Youre late, the vampire said, not glancing aside.
Apologies. I got sidetracked.
Sidetracked kissing a gorgeous kleptomaniac. She could roam those sticky fingers all over him so long as she didnt steal the merchandise.
And why the hell hadnt he turned tail and run from her arms? He never followed a woman hed just met around like a puppy dog. That was not his MO. The job always came first.
Dont rush off, he tried. I need a few minutes of your time.
The vampire stopped before a black Aston Martin. Kaz eyed the gorgeous vehicle and deeply regretted his decision to remain carless.
V12 Zagato, the vamp offered. Hot off the production line less than a month ago.
The curves were insane, not to mention the deep color inlaid with mica flecks that captured the glowing neon lights and flashed like some kind of supernatural conveyance.
That iswasa sweet ride, Kaz corrected as his gaze landed on the smashed front quarter panel, and followed the scrape that arced over the wheel well to end in a crunched side mirror.
Still is sweet, the vampire offered. Just a few dents.
Dents? More like a major crash. Kaz couldnt believe the tire was still attached to the axle, let alone in the shape of a circle.
Get in before someone sees me talking to you, hunter.
Thankful for the invite, Kaz slid inside the car and had to bend his knees and shift a hip to the side to fit properly. He almost reached to adjust the seat back, but a man never touched another mans car unless he was directed to do so. Folding his hands across his knees and curling his shoulders slightly forward, he decided to mark this particular model off his wish list. Not that he needed a car to get around Paris. The Metro served him just fine. And a hunter who took the time to find a parking spot would never claim a kill.
Before he could ask a question, Kaz suddenly remembered an important detail about this particular vampire.
Twisting a frantic look over his shoulder, he scanned the backseat, down to the floor and then up along the center divider, and somehow managed to check near his feet, though it was difficult to bend too far forward.
Green Snake is at home, the vampire provided. Chill out, man. Dont tell me youre afraid of reptiles?
Kaz dropped his shoulders, yet they remained slightly curled forward in the cozy confines. I dont like surprise reptiles, is all.
The first time hed met the vampire, a green mamba snake had curled about his ankle as hed unknowingly sat in the back of a limousine talking about local vampire tribes. Those things were poisonous. Apparently, though, not to vampires.
So, Vail
No names!
He met the vampires blue gaze, and did not miss the warning glint of fang between his compressed lips.
Fine. Sorry.
It wasnt as if he hadnt talked to Vaillant before, and had once even had a drink with him at the Lizard Lounge, sans reptiles. Kaz made a premeditated choice to cater to this vampires quirks to stay on his good side. Besides, they werent all evil.
So, Mysterious, Dark-Haired Man Who Has Never Taken A Driving Lesson And Who Wants to Give Me Information, what do you have for me?
Vail tapped the steering wheel with fingers bejeweled in dark metal and diamonds. Black clothed him from boots to slicked-back hair. He was a vampire who had grown up in Faery (not by choice) and had returned to the mortal realm to claim a dysfunctional family (including a werewolf twin brother) and a faery dust addiction. He was supposedly clean now. If anyone had a finger on the pulse of what was going on with vampires and the dust connection, it was Vaillant.
This dust blend you told me about is very new.
Weeks, Kaz said. Just hitting the market. Not many know about it.
Exactly. Not sure there even is a market for it yet. When I mention the purple stuff fellow vamps give me a wonky look. Though the one vamp who did know what it was called it Magic Dust. And he was anxious for more. Had to beat him off with a stick.
Yep, that was the way it worked on vampires. Normal faery dust caused instant addiction. This new stuff compounded that addiction with an unreal craving for sparkly stuff. Only, sometimes the sparklies the dust freaks went after were pieces of jewelry attached to innocent humans.
Magic Dust. Is that what they call it?
Yep.
Kaz hated that the substance carried an appealing name. Of course, thats how most drugs were named, to attract attention.
You know it drives vampires crazy for anything that sparkles?
Vail studied his knuckles, the diamonds glinting. Nothing wrong with sparkly stuff.
Unless its wrapped around some humans neck, and the vampire decides to tear through itand skin and bonesin an attempt to feed their addiction.
You told me about your friends. Im sorry, man. Thats rough.
Robert and Ellen Horst had been murdered last week while in Paris on their honeymoon. Theyd called the morning of their arrival, hoping to meet Kaz in a café to catch up. Kaz and Robert had both hung around Madame du Mondes Dance Emporium a decade earlier for reasons theyd kept to themselves.
Kaz had only arrived at the hospital five minutes before Robert had died. His friend had told him the attacker had fangs and had been crazy for his wifes diamonds and had growled about needing more dust to keep the high. As hed exhaled his dying breath, Roberts hand had fallen open to reveal the fang hed knocked out of his attackers jaw as hed fought for his and his wifes lives.
That tooth now sat in Kazs front pocket.
I have no clue where its coming from, Vail offered. None of the known dealers in FaeryTown, thats for sure. Theyre all sanctioned through the higher-ups, if you know what I mean.
What does that mean, exactly? Does someone control all sales of faery dust and ichor?
Kaz hadnt a clue about illicit drugs sold amongst the paranormal breeds, and the Order certainly hadnt an interest in it, either.
Dust and ichor are two different highs, man. Do you even know how it all works?
Its a drug that makes my job a pain in the ass. What more do I need to know?
Vail sighed and tapped the steering wheel, then turned to him. So youve got faery dust and faery ichor. The dust is easy to obtain, and it gives a quick high. Very addictive. You get dust directly from the faery, but can also do something to the ichor to make it turn to dust. Im not sure how that works. But its dust form. Right?
Kaz nodded. He understood that much.
Vamps deal dust. But not ichor. The Sidhe Cortège controls that.
Do I want to know what that is?
You should. Theyre sort of faery mafia that exist only in the mortal realm.
Great. Yet another wrench tossed into his investigation. So all ichor goes through this cortège?
Vail nodded. A vampire can only get ichor by going to FaeryTown and checking into an ichor den. Or he can find a willing faery and bite her. Ichor straight from the vein is amazing. Or it was. Im clean now, man. And then theres the ultimate. The Neverland Fix.
Explain.
Thats when a vampire has sex with a faeryyou know when a faery comes they sort of explode dust all over, right?
He had not known that. Kaz wasnt sure hed ever get the image from his brain.
Explain.
Thats when a vampire has sex with a faeryyou know when a faery comes they sort of explode dust all over, right?
He had not known that. Kaz wasnt sure hed ever get the image from his brain.
So if you bite them and suck out their ichor while they are coming in a cloud of dust its like Neverland, Vail said. Except, you aint never coming back from that one. Total oblivion for the vamp. No chance of returning to sanity. But Ive heard its worth it.
Is that so? Kaz eyed his informant. He knew the vampire was a father and had many friends in the paranormal community. But how much was he keeping to himself? Did he have reason to protect those vamps who dealt dust?
You going to some kind of AA, Dark One?
Vail nodded. Dont worry about me. Addiction is tough. Since Ive gotten clean, I fight it every day. Good thing I have Lyric. Shes a million times more appealing than ichor. But still... He heaved out a sigh.
Kaz had never touched drugs or alcohol, himself. Too many bad memories harbored by those illicit substances. Vails sigh said so much that didnt require words.
Kaz understood addiction because his father was an alcoholic. Okay, so he didnt understand it, but he did know it when it hit him in the face. The bastard was always ready to punch him whenever he got wasted, which had been all the time. Kaz hadnt seen him in almost fourteen years, and had no desire for a reunion anytime soon.
Now that I let my mind wander, Vail started, there is a vamp chick who slinks about under the radar. Always into something new. Not attached to a particular tribe, though she does tend to date tribe leaders. She deals dust and has been known to do wet work, as well.
Sex, drugs and murder? Sounded like a piece of work. Name?
Vail held up his palm between the two of them. There are only two or three vamps who have permission to deal dust in this city. Give me your word that this information did not come from me.
Kaz slapped his hand into Vails in a gentlemans agreement. You have my word. I know you supply me with information because you care about your breed. You dont want to see any of them addicted to the stuff.
The vampires name is Switch, Vail said. I dont know where to find her, only that she moves around. Shes tall and slender. Aggressive, but attractive in a hooker kind of way.
Great. That describes half the female vampires in Paris.
Yeah, but you should be able to pick her out by her hair. Half black, half pink, like some kind of cotton-candy machine gone over to the dark side.
A distinguishing hairstyle? Perfect. It would give Kaz a place to start.
So you know the names of those two or three who sell the dust? They would be the ones giving Switch the work, right?
Yes, but...I dont have names. Isnt what Ive already told you enough?
It would be a start. Thanks, Vailer, Dark Stranger. Give my regards to your wife. He recalled the Order notes hed reviewed before coming here tonight. Did she just have a baby?
Our second, Vail offered with a note of pride. Sweet little girl. I love her, even when she wakes in the middle of the night yowling like a banshee. Yeah, Ill tell Lyric you said hello. If you need me...Ill find you.
Cool.
At the thought of a vampire baby, Kaz quelled the shudder that wanted to give his bones a good shake. Then he prayed he wouldnt have to stake the little flesh pricker someday.
After shaking Vails hand, Kaz got out of the car, stroked the smashed front panel and walked away, hands in his coat pockets, without giving the vampire a glance back.
He lived on the left bank, far from the eighteenth arrondissement. Hopping onto the Metro at the Blanche station, he settled in for the ride.
Once home, he activated the inner wards by closing the four sliding locks on his front door. The Order ensured all their knights homes were warded against vampires, werewolves and sometimes, if the knight requested it, witches. Between that and some personal wards hed had tattooed on his body, Kaz felt relatively safe, even knowing the city of millions was populated with tens of thousands of paranormal critters.
Standing before the living room wall, plastered with a large Paris city map, he darted his gaze from the red pins, which indicated the location of tribal nests, to the white individual vamps, to the few green pinsknown wolf packs.
Plucking out a silver pin from the nearby pin box, he poked it in place in the eighteenth arrondissement.
Zoë, he muttered. A smile was unstoppable.
* * *
Will you find the source of the Magic Dust, little one?
Coyote flinched at Riskés use of the possessive moniker. Yes, she was small. But she was anything but little.
Its tainting our supply, Riské continued. The faery elders feather headdress listed in the summer breeze that always surrounded him, even on brisk winter nights. The idiot bloodsuckers are selling on our turf. This mortal realm is convoluted with lacking intelligence and those who would sell their very souls for another coin in their pocket.
Ive Whim sniffing out the trail, she answered, preening her left wing over her shoulder. Living in the mortal realm zapped her vitality, and she was ever concerned about her faded wings. Hes an excellent tracker.
And what about the other one who is often stumbling about in your wake? Ever? Sever?
His name is Never. And he does not stumble. Hes an ace marksman. My secret weapon.
I thought you were my secret weapon?
I am, mon Grand Sidhe, she said, using the respectful title. Lately, Riské had been ignoring her for his many other consorts. She was fine with that. The sidhe lord was a fickle lover. She preferred those with a bit more devotion and vita, which could restore the color to her wings that living in the mortal realm had drained. I suspect the dealer is a vampire.
Of course. He said it as if admonishing her for stating the obvious.
I dont want to unsettle the fragile balance we have with the vampire community, she said.
See that you do not. But do not allow this one who deems to step on my feet one moment longer of triumph. I will not accept failure from you, Coyote.
Meaning, hed strike her dead with a look that could stop her heart if she returned without the vampires head. Easy enough. Coyote always got her man. Or vampire. She just had to let loose her hounds, Whim and Never, and follow the trail.
Chapter 3
The knock at the front door was accompanied by a yelp.
Zoë smiled with self-satisfied glee. I do love a well-tuned vampire ward.
She grabbed the plastic kids lunchbox from the living room table and strode to the door with the usual spring in her step that the yelp always produced. The autumn sky was dark, promising imminent rain. Most vamps could handle the sunlight for a short time, though they did tend to grumble about it whenever anyone would listen.
A flash of pink swept before the narrow window that paralleled each side of her front door.
Fashion nightmare, Zoë muttered before she swung open the door to grant her visitor a Cheshire Cat greeting. You again, and looking so bright and cheery.
Witch, your wards hurt.