He lifted her chin and stared into her eyes. Calling it quits? Thats what they sent us? A quitter? Its up to you, but Id get up there and play if I were you. You cant quit every time theres a snafu. Lord above! We need Teddy Roosevelt, and they send us a sniveling child.
Im not a sniveling child, Hugh. I just dont see the sense of going on working today. Since theres certainly no imminent or inherent danger
He interrupted her, laughing. Imminent or inherent danger? The world is filled with inherent dangerthats why you exist, Rhiannon. And imminent? How often do we really know when danger is imminent? Did you think being a Keeper was going to be like living in a Superman comic? You see someone in distress, throw on a red cape, save the day, then slip back down to earth and put your glasses on? How can you be your grandfathers descendant?
Rhiannon felt an instant explosion of emotions. One was indignation.
One was shame.
And thankfully, others were wounded pride and determination.
Hugh, I know my duty, she said quietly. But my cousins and I were not supposed to take over as Keepers for years to come. No one knew that our fathers would be called to council, that the population explosion of Otherworlders in L.A. would skyrocket the way it has and we would need to start our duties now. Its only been a week. Im not quitting, Im adjusting. And its not easy.
Hugh grinned, released her chin and smoothed back her hair. Life aint easy for anyone, kid. Now get up there and knock em dead.
She looked around the place and wondered drily if it was possible to knock anyone dead here. It was basically a glorified coffee shop, but she did need to make something of herself and her career here in L.A.
Shed left Savannah just when Dark As Night, her last band, had gotten an offer to open for a tour. Her bandmates had been incredulous when shed said that she was moving, and distressed. Not distressed enough to lose the gig, though. They had found another lead guitarist slash backup singer before shed even packed a suitcase.
Wearily, she made her way back to the stage. Screw the tip jar. She didnt have another, and she wasnt going to put out an empty coffee cup like a beggar.
She could not only play the guitar; she was good.
Unfortunately, given the recent twists in her life, it seemed she was never going to have the chance to prove it.
She stepped slowly back up on the stage. Earlier the crowd had been watching her, chatting a bit, too, but and enjoying her slow mix of folk, rock and chart toppers.
Now they were all talking about the latest Hollywood promo stunt.
Rhiannon began to play and sing, making up the lyrics as she went along, giving in to her real feelings despite her determination not to be bitter that she was suddenly hereand with little chance for a life.
I hate Hollywood, I hate Hollywood, oh, oh, I hate Hollywood, I hate Hollywood, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Everyones an actor, its a stark and frightening factor,
I hate Hollywood.
And I hate actors, too,
Oh, yeah, and I hate actors, too.
Okay, her cousin Sailor was an actress, and she didnt hate Sailor, although she wasnt certain that Sailor was actually living in the real world, either. She was too much the wide-eyed innocent despite the fact that shed grown up in L.A. Countyand had also spent a few years pounding the pavement trying to crack Broadway and the New York television scene. Maybe the wide-eyed innocence in Sailor was an act, too. No, no, Sailor really wanted the world to be all sunshine and roses. And, actually, Rhiannon loved her cousin; Sailor always meant well. And now, according to the powers that be, she and Sailor and another of their cousins, Barrie, a journalist with a good head on her shoulders, were to take their place as Keepers of three of the Otherworld races right here in L.A.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeaaaah, I hate Hollywood,
And I hate actors, too.
If anyone disagreed with her lyrics, they didnt say so. No one was really listening, anyway. And maybe that was the point. Easy music in the background while the coffee, tea, latte, mocha and chai drinkers enjoyed their conversations.
Polite applause followed the song. Rhiannon looked down, not wanting the audience to see her roll her eyes.
At ten oclock Hugh asked her to announce that the café was closed for the night. She was shutting her guitar case when one of the coffee drinkers came up to her, offering her a twenty. Surprised by the amount of the tip, she looked at him more closely and realized that he was Mac Brodie, the actor who had been covered in fake blood earlier.
She looked at the twenty but didnt touch it, then looked back into his eyes.
Elven, she realized.
Six foot five, she thought, judging that he stood a good seven inches over her own respectable five feet ten inches. And he had the telltale signs: golden hair streaked with platinum, eyes of a curious blue-green that was almost lime. And, of course, the lean, sleekly muscled physique.
She lowered her head again, shaking it. Elven, she murmured. Its all right. You did ruin my night, but thats okay. She made a point of not looking directly at him. Elven could read minds, but most of them had to have locked eye contact, so looking away made it possible to block the intrusion. And, luckily, the process was hard on them, so they didnt indulge in it frivolously.
Keeper, he said, drawing out the word. And new to the job, of course. Sorry. I saw that look of panic on your face. Im assuming youre here for the bloodsuckers?
She stiffened. In Savannah shed been a fledgling vampire Keeper, apprenticing with an old family friend whod kept the city peacefully coexisting for years, but shed always known that one day she would take her fathers place in L.A.
As shed told Hugh, this had all been so sudden. There hadnt been a warning, no Tie up your affairs, youre needed in six months or even three months, or one. The World Council had been chosen, and in two weeks a core group of some of the countrys wisest Keepers was gone and their replacements moved into their new positions. And there was no such thing as calling the Hague for help. No Keeper business could ever be discussed by cell phone, since in the day and age they lived in, anything could be recorded or traced.
So the new Keepers were simply yanked and resettled, and the hell with their past lives.
Yes, of course, Keeper for the bloodsuckers, Mac said, his tone low.
Some of my best friends are bloodsuckers, she said sweetly, looking quickly around. Shed been about to chastise him for speaking so openly, but the clientele was gone and the workers were cleaning the kitchen, well out of earshot. Of course, he might know exactly what she was thinking even without her saying it aloud. Some Elven were capable of telepathy even without eye contact, so she braced her mind against him. In fact, she knew she was playing a brutal game. It cost an Elven dearly to mind-read, especially without locking gazes, but it cost the target a great deal of strength to block the mind probe, as well.
There were a lot of Others in L.A. County. One thing they all did was keep the secret that they wereunusual. It was the key to survivalfor all them. History had taught them that when people feared any group, that group was in trouble.
Same here, he told her. Im fond of a lot of vampires.
She stared at him for a moment. He was undeniably gorgeous. Like a sun god or some such thing. And he undoubtedly knew that Elven usually got their way, because they were born with grace and charmnot to mention the ability to teleport, or, as they defined it, move at the speed of light.
She was annoyed. She had no desire to be hit on by an Elven actor, of all things, but she didnt want to fight, either. All she wanted was to make her point. I dont want money from a struggling actor, she said. You dont need to feel guilty. Im fine. I work because, Keeper or not, I still have to pay the bills. But Hugh gives me a salary, so go do some more promo stunts. Im fine.
Youre more than fine, he said quietly. And Im truly sorry that we ruined the evening for you. He offered her his hand. Im Mac. Mac Brodie.
She hesitated and then accepted his hand. Rhiannon. Rhiannon Gryffald.
Its a pleasure, Miss Gryffald. And am I right? he asked her.
About?
The vampires?
Are you asking me so that you could avoid me if I were Keeper of the Elven?
Hey, we Elven have spent centuries keeping the peace because were strong, sure of ourselves, some might say arrogant he smiled and we can talk almost anyone into almost anything. Im asking you out of pure curiosity, he told her. And because Im trying to make casual conversationand amends. I really am sorry.
Rhiannon waved a hand in the air. I told you, its all right. However, it has been a long day, and I would like to go home now.
No nightcap with me, eh? he asked.
He was smiling at her again. And like all his kind, he had charm to spare.
Thats why the Elven fared so well in Hollywood. They were almost universally good looking. Tall, and perfectly built. They were made for the world of acting.
She realized, looking at him, that he was exceptionally godlike. She was surprised, actually, that he bothered with small theater at all. He would have been great in a Greek classic, a Viking movie or a sword and sorcery fantasy. He was lean, but she knew that he was strongand would look amazing without a shirt.
Then again, hed announced that the play was going to turn into a major movie. Maybe he was sticking with it for the stardom it might bring.
No nightcap, she said. Im simply ready to go home.
Perhaps youll consider letting me buy you that apology another time?
Doubtful, she assured him.
He pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to her. Well, be that as it may, you really should come see the show.
Thank you, but I really dont enjoy a mockery being made of mymy charges, she told him.
He leaned closer to her, and the teasing, flirty smile left his face. He almost appeared to be a different person: older, more confident and deadly serious.
No, you really should come see the show, he said. My number is on the card, Miss Gryffald. And Im sure you know L.A. well enough to find the theater.
He turned and walked out the door, nearly brushing the frame with the top of golden head.
Puzzled, she watched him go.
Hugh appeared just then. Still here? Im impressed, he said.
Im leaving, Im leaving, she told him.
Ill see you tomorrow. And be on time.
The man could be extremely aggravating. Werewolf Keepers were often like that, she had discovered. But then, the more experienced a Keeper was, the more he or she often took on the characteristics of a charge to a greater or lesser degree. She suspected that Hugh could become a wolf at the drop of a hat.
With her precious Fender in hand, she left the café. She heard Hugh locking the door behind her.
She headed to the ten-year-old Volvo that her uncle had left for her use, set her guitar in the trunk and started off down the street. Her song really hadnt been half bad. Hollywood, oh, I hate Hollywood, she sang as she drove.
Brodie nodded to the attendant on duty and proceeded down the hallway of the morgue, past rooms where dozens of bodies in various stages of investigation were stored.
That was one thing about L.A. that wasnt so good. The city was huge, and the number of people who died on the streets, many of them nameless and unknown, was high. Possibly even sadder were the ones whose names were knownbut whose deaths went by unnoticed and unmourned.
Of course, the morgue also housed the remains of people who were known and lovedbut who had died under circumstances that ranged from suspicious to outright violent.
That night, however, he passed by the autopsy rooms, remembering all too clearly the one hed entered when he was sixteen, a room filled with corpse after corpse wrapped in plastic shroudsso many dead. His father had arranged it after discovering that Mac had left a party after drinking. Luckily he had only creamed the garage door. But it might have been a person, and his father had made sure he knew what the consequences could have been.
He reached a door marked Dr. Anthony Brandt, Senior Pathologist.
Tony undoubtedly knew that he was coming. Tony knew a lot. He had an amazing sense of smell that had served him well as a medical examiner. He could smell most poisons a mile away.
Before Brodie could tap on the door, Tony had answered it. I was expecting you tonight, he said.
Oh?
Weve gotten another body that I think belongs to your killer.
Where did he leave his mark this time? Brodie asked.
Tony just looked at him, ignoring the question. You still doing the show? he asked.
Yep.
I saw that the cast included a Mac Brodie. Thats you, Im assuming. Not much of an alias, Tony said.
None of the other actors actually know me. Being Mac Brodie instead of Brodie McKay works all rightif anyone looks me up, the captain has made sure that theyll find my online résumé and all the right information. Makes it easier if someone who does know me calls me either Mac or Brodie.
Tony mused on that for a minute. Youre not the only one going by a stage name, are you? I noticed a Jack Hunter in the credits.
Brodie shrugged. Youre rightthats Hunter Jackson. Obviously the cast and crew know who he really istheyre just sworn to secrecy.
So he is the well-known director?
Yes. The play is his baby, really. He found the script and decided to produce it, then sell the film rights. The play was written by a friend of his, our stage manager. Names Joe Carrie. Nice guy, about fortyand definitely human.
So you dont think hes our murderer? Tony asked.
Brodie shook his head. No, and theres no proof the killers even involved with the play itself. He could just be a theater buff. But the play does seem a solid place to start, at least. So, anyway, what makes you think our killer is responsible for this corpse?
Exsanguination, for one thing.
Tony was an interesting guy; he looked like what you would expect a werewolf to look like in human form. He was big and muscular, with broad shoulders and an equally broad chest. He had a head full of thick, curly light brown hair, and when he was on vacation, he grew a beard that would do Santa proud.
And?