Dead Certain (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 3) Page 3

  Not that it mattered in this case. The woman had orders, from her creator, Bey, to do it. That should have been enough to keep her going before, but it had also been Eve’s job to keep her on task. Hopefully Cormack and Barb hadn’t gotten all lazy like that, too. Losing one or two days like Nikki had was a shame, but they’d both been five or six into the whole thing. If they’d stayed up the whole time then they were probably set already. Not there, she noticed, but that might be fine, if they’d hung on long enough.

  She made that her first call, trying to find Barb, who was conveniently enough with Cormack, both at the far end of the mall, helping Zack and the mall manager do some work. Along with David.

  Eve held the phone with her chin, and clapped her hands.

  “Really? That’s so cool. He must be half useless. Still he stayed, so how incredible is that? You and Cormack are both doing well then? I kind of fell down on the job with you guys. Sorry about that.”

  Barb made a sound that might have been sobbing, if she was capable of actually crying anymore.

  “We’ll forgive you, this once. Don’t let it happen again. You just sat there, stinking up my break room… For weeks.”

  It hadn’t been that long, but she didn’t mention that part. It would seem like bragging.

  “Glad to be out of the way for you then. Anyway, I was just checking in, and being a good pain in the rump. Tell everyone I’ll be down later? If we have breakfast orders or anything, get them in writing? Coffees, and all that kind of stuff?”

  “I’m on it. We should be done later today. Everyone helped out with it, so it’s gone pretty fast.”

  That was good. Not that she shouldn’t have been helping, too. It hadn’t been in the cards though, and she was willing to gamble on the idea that at least a tiny portion of the people there would get the basic idea. That she would have helped, if it were possible.

  They worked out that Nikki would take the orders, and that they’d both go and get anything that was needed. It wasn’t going to be all that much, she didn’t think. In a way, she realized, she was dragging her feet, not wanting to go back to the other end of the mall. Being there would mean learning who’d died, and there were only seven ladies that worked the nail place or so. She wasn’t close to any of them really, but she’d known them all in passing. It was going to hurt, when she found out.

  So she called Marcus’s home number instead. Since that made perfect sense, right? He was a Greater Demon and still in town, so why should he change it? To her surprise it picked up, on the third ring.

  The voice was still male, but was different now. Deeper, but also more friendly.

  “Good morning, how may I help you this fine and rainy day?”

  “It wasn’t raining when I was out, earlier. Cloudy though, so I can see it. Anyway, it’s me, Eve. Benson, in case you forgot about me? You know, the girl that you had your minion set on fire? Left me all stumpy and smelling like extra-crispy bacon? I’m planning to kill you soon, so I was wondering if you wanted to make an appointment for that? Zack’s insisting that we let you come back to life after, for some reason. Still, it’s worth it, just to break the link with Maggie that you have? The other option is to kill her to break it, but I don’t know if I can bring her back. I do have a plan for it, but it’s mainly speculation right now.” She didn’t get a response, so started to run through it, expecting to be interrupted at any moment. Instead the Greater Demon just let her keep on chatting.

  Like they were friends, or something.

  “There are a few minor holes in that one, but it could work. You should make sure to research each portion of it first. I’d rather not lose her right now, since she really is my favorite. I have plans, too, you know. It’s part of why I got her in the first place… I don’t suppose I could get you to wait a few weeks? I could send more cash to your account, in exchange?”

  It was a very strange thing to say, given that she’d just told him that she planned to kill him. Then, she’d also said that keeping him alive might be in the works, too. He seemed to be taking that as a sign that they could negotiate the whole thing. Which, given everything, was probably as close to the best she was really going to be able to get from the being.

  More than she really expected, actually. She’d kind of expected threats and growling, with her dying later that afternoon.

  “Hmmm. Well, I don’t need a lot more cash at the moment. I have ridiculously low overhead now, you know? I don’t suppose you have anything else to trade? For some extra time, I mean.” To her that wasn’t that valuable a commodity, since what was she really going to do, go to his house and drag him out into the street for a spanking? Her odds of getting that done, given how kinky he seemed, would be a lot better than actually killing him. It might even have been funny, if she wasn’t quite so ticked at him.

  “I could give you an amulet that will let you regrow your arms and legs inside six months? It’s worth several billion dollars. Probably more than that, in the current market.”

  She snorted at him, wondering if he was just being a tease.

  “I already grew those back, thanks. You seem to have forgotten how cool I am. Got anything else?”

  There was silence on the line, for a longer time than she would have suspected from a Greater Demon. Finally, there was a gentle chuckling sound. It actually didn’t sound too insane, all things being considered.

  “Well, fuck, Eve. That’s pretty darned good for a Vampire. On your own, too? No one helped you at all? Wow. I’m impressed. Okay, I doubt my tender flesh will thrill you either, though I am looking pretty hot these days. Um… How about this, I have some contacts in Russia, who just so happen to know the name of the specific Vampire that’s getting ready to take his fellows in that area into rebellion against the Council. Your folks don’t know who it is precisely yet either, so the name has value. You and your boyfriend Bey can go and handle that, and it should be worth, what? Three weeks? Twenty-one days of reprieve from death, for myself, or Maggie? That won’t cover any of my other servants, but you aren’t planning on a terror campaign, are you?” His voice didn’t even go dark at the end. There was no threat implied, and it was asked like a genuine question. Like he was interested in knowing the answer, and trusted her to simply tell him what her plans were. Because, she remembered, they had an actual agreement to share information, didn’t they?

  So she did. It wasn’t like she was going to lose anything by him knowing that she hadn’t turned into an insane vengeance monster. She looked at the wall across from her, which was very clean, and matched the color scheme of the place, being an orange like shade.

  “Nope. It never even crossed my mind. I’m taking Maggie from you, one way or the other, and there may be some pain coming your way for screwing with me, if I can manage it. You killed some people here too, using her like you did. Maybe not on purpose, but still, it happened, and you knew to plan for that kind of thing. That’s… I guess that’s between you and Zack, since none of them were my people, exactly. I’m not happy about it, but that isn’t anything for us to go at it about. So, if the information you give me checks out, you get twenty-one days. Then we meet, and work out how to best do this? Or do you want me to sneak up on you and pretend I can do anything other than smuggle in a secret weapon? It would be better for me if you just helped out. Probably safer for everyone. Plus if I have to shove a nuke up your ass, it would be easier if we lubed you up first.”

  She expected an evil laugh, or something. What she got was a pleasant voice. A calm one that sounded like they were talking about meeting for coffee, not death.

  “That sounds fine. A name for you, and a real meeting at the end, with no tricks or traps involved after twenty-one days where you don’t go after Maggie or myself. During that time neither of us will go after you either. Fair?”

  “Yes. As long as you don’t send anyone else to do it. Or anything. I’ll fight for my life, or my friends’ lives, no matter what we say right now.”

  “Understood. I
won’t use any loopholes in this. I simply need the time. Fine, then. We’ll move forward with this. I’m happy to hear that you’re doing better so soon, by the way. I’ve been worried about you. I stopped myself, of course, but it actually happened three times since you were injured. That’s a lot, for me.”

  “Um, thanks? So, that name?”

  She had to write it down, but got a lot more than just the strange Russian sounding name that probably meant John Smith, or the equivalent. Eve was also given the name of the man’s co-conspirators, an outline of their plan, which was pretty basic, and the addresses of several of their secret hiding places. They meant nothing to her, and she probably spelled the names wrong, not knowing the Cyrillic alphabet yet, but it was a starting place. She even got some numbers for Vamps in the right area that weren’t in with the bad guy.

  Bohdan Constantine. It did sound like a great evil bad guy name, at least to her.

  Once they were off the line, Eve was kind of conflicted by the whole idea. Maggie had nearly killed her, and she wanted her dead for it. That was fair and right, wasn’t it? Zack had made it seem like she could, and more to the point should, save her though, and even Fram had been nearly helpful about the whole thing. Sure, he wanted to get his plan finished, but there was no way Eve was going to stop him, and his friends anyway. If anyone could, it wasn’t going to be her.

  Still, wouldn’t revenge be better?

  After a moment, she had to shake her head, the empty store silent, except for the hum of the machines. That probably meant Lenore had been listening in from the back. That could end up with her being beaten, for daring to think she was more clever than a Greater Demon, or for risking herself to save a friend that had probably been a Demon’s slave the entire time they’d known each other.

  The woman stirred, but didn’t come out, so if she was shocked or angered, it wasn’t going to come in a rushing and insane attack at that moment.

  In fact, it was pretty clear that the phone was being picked up then, in the back, and a few moments later a female voice spoke.

  Maggie.

  Eve listened closely, and heard the ancient Vampire sound very nearly friendly.

  “Burgerville, fourth plain, how may I help you today?” That news got Eve to blink. It was the old job that Maggie had been working, before she’d gone off to be the mouthpiece for the Council.

  That she was working there again, or possibly still, was fascinating. It probably wasn’t that she needed the money, after all. Then, twenty-four hours a day was a lot of time to fill. It could just be that she liked to keep busy.

  Lenore cleared her throat.

  “Maggie. Would you happen to know where Bey is right now? We have some new information, on the difficulties in Russia? Eve got it for us. From the Demon Fram? Amazingly, she isn’t plotting your instant death. She’s also already fully healed from her little adventure already. I knew that you’d want to hear about that, first thing.”

  Okay, so the ambassador was being a bit catty sounding, but Maggie actually made a real happy sound, her voice very nearly thrilled seeming. It was strange and annoying, since Eve kind of still wanted to be pissed at her. Arms and legs, burnt to carbon, with not even the bones left. That was worth being upset over, wasn’t it?

  “Oh, thank goodness! I’m surprised that she’s taking it so well, though I guess I shouldn’t be too taken aback by the idea. If someone had done that to me, I’d be less than pleased, myself. It’s good to know that I didn’t hurt her too much to bear. She just kept coming at me so fast. I really didn’t have a lot of choice at the time, since it was use fire, or die.”

  Eve snorted, but spoke from the front space, knowing that the other woman would hear her.

  “Right. I’ve got a thing set up with Fram, for the next three weeks. A truce. After that we’re going to kill one of you. We have a meeting scheduled for it.” She stopped there, a bit of anger in her tone. She got how it would sound, and looked toward the back, wondering what the response would be.

  Maggie just coughed. It wasn’t real, but it seemed like it. She was just so damned good at faking things like that.

  “That’s different. Only one of us? Why not both? I don’t suppose that it’s going to be the other one in the collection that goes, will it? Well, I’ve had a long life. I can’t complain about the measure I’ve been given that way, if it must come to the part where it ends now.”

  Eve rolled her eyes.

  “I know, that does sound pretty fair, doesn’t it? But nooo, I have to set it up so we just kill one of you, and bring you back, so the slave link thing will be broken between you. I’ll be calling some friends of mine in on that part, so that we can make sure it works. You owe me though. Big time. Like huge, beyond anyone’s ability to imagine. I’m not just talking helping me move, or clean the garage, big either, so remember that when Christmas comes for the next few decades.”

  That got a laugh, at least, and a promise to do that.

  “Thank you, Eve. I know that I don’t deserve it. Things truly didn’t go as planned.”

  It didn’t have anything to do with what was deserved though, did it? Eve was still pissed at the other Vampire, but she held her tongue on the topic.

  Bey however, it turned out, was in the burger joint where Maggie worked as the manager. Just sitting there listening to them natter on about silly things like life, and death. She heard him say he was coming, a gentle whisper in the background of a sea of voices. The place must be good, she realized, since it was still very early in the day. Places that sucked didn’t have very big breakfast rushes.

  The phone clicked shortly after that, being hung up, before Lenore started making the next call. That was to Eve’s buddy and business partner, it turned out. Marissa Constantine. The last name was the reason why, too.

  This time Eve kept her lips closed, and just eavesdropped like a good minion. Taking a clean and damp cloth, wringing it out carefully in the silver metal sink, she started to wipe the whole room down. It was what they were supposed to do when they ran out of other things.

  It was a very polite call, with Lenore kissing so much ass to start with that Eve could hear her lips starting to chap, even from the other room. Not that it wasn’t a good idea to be polite to people on the Council in general, but it was so over the top that the hermaphrodite on the other end finally cut through things, her voice slightly amused.

  “Lenore, dear, what’s the real issue here? Not that I don’t appreciate the compliments, but you don’t normally connect with me just to go on about my many virtues. That means you either want something, or have news that you fear might enrage me. Which is it?”

  There was a soft sigh from the next room.

  “The second one, I’m sorry to say. It seems that we may have located the source of the rebellion in Russia. If our information can be trusted, and it seems likely that it may be rather good, then it’s coming from Bohdan. I thought to call you first, before we take any action. I know that the Council has ordered this dealt with, as soon as possible, but there is, perhaps room to wiggle things a bit?”

  “Ah. I see the problem then. Bohdan. That’s a name I haven’t heard in several years. A child of mine, from about, oh… What century is this?” The question wasn’t a joke, so Lenore told her it was early in the twenty-first, not letting any sense of humor come into it.

  “So, six centuries ago? Surly he’s old enough by now to know better than to challenge power lightly. An intellectual, rather than a fighter, but never one to be too happy being led by others. One always thinks that those we know will remain as we left them, but it’s never the case, is it? I don’t suppose that a warning might be sent first? To inform him that he should alter his path, before we send the might of the Council after him?”

  Eve had a tiny problem with that one, herself, since it would let the man know that they were coming, which could well mean getting his forces together, and ready, first. To her surprise though, Lenore sounded positive about the idea. Like it was a br
illiant plan, actually.

  Even Bey, who walked through the door about then, from the front, nodded, as if he’d been listening to the whole thing. That probably wasn’t possible though, given how far he’d just had to run to get there. Even at his level of speed and power, walking places took time. Like a half minute, but still, it was a real thing.

  Without stopping to even nod at her, the small, hairless man in the black suit, moved straight to the back, and took over the conversation.

  “We shall see that done then. Perhaps it would be best if the message of warning came from you, his maker, personally? I don’t doubt the others will allow that to be done. Such a thing, coming from you, will probably end all problems there. If not, then we will have to do more, of course. It will sadden my heart to pain you so, but I cannot see another way. This is the wrong time for us to allow open discord amongst our people. Now that the Humans are aware of us again, we must needs be careful.”

  “I know, old friend. I’ll do that now. It may take me some time to find the correct number, it really has been about a decade, if not longer, since my child and I spoke. Time flies, and we all grow careless, as it does.”

  Eve actually had one for the man, on the note pad in her hand. She walked to the back, moving quickly, but stopping at the door, so no one would hit her. Then, without speaking, she pointed to the number next to the name on the yellow legal pad. Bey could use it, or not, if he wanted.

  “Oh? It seems we have that information already to hand. Very good then. Thank you, Miss Benson. Marissa, if you’d be so kind as to tell us what we need to do? We’ll stand by, waiting for you to call on us, or more hopefully, to tell us we need do nothing.”