Dead Certain (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 3) Page 9

  “Hello! Are you Eve?” There was a pause, and a look that went all the way down her nose. True, she was wearing running shoes, and slacks, but also a nice button up shirt. It was plain and white, so it couldn’t be called fancy, but it was just a meeting to see if she wanted the house or not.

  “That’s me.” She tried to not respond to the lady, and just let her take charge and point out all the good things, while hiding the negatives that the place had hidden. Not too many of those, but when you asked for nearly a million dollars you couldn’t get away with that kind of fixer-upper stuff. Not if she were going to be buying it anyway.

  It was a fine looking house, and even had an indoor pool. It was small, being long and very narrow, but big enough for a person to swim laps in, which was the point, she guessed. Cormack didn’t really need to exercise, but it came with the place. There was a great three car garage, and the kitchen looked ready to cook for hundreds of people. Each of the bedrooms had a bathroom too, which was a great feature.

  The problem though was that Sheila started almost directly into bigotry. Being that she didn’t know what Eve was, that seemed a bit over the top. Like she just started all her conversations with the fact that she was a moron.

  “This is a nice place, but we do have some Vampire activity in the area. Shape Shifters, too. I keep telling Mrs. Johansen to lower the asking price, because of that, but she wants a return on her investment. I can’t blame her, but that kind of thing…” She actually shuddered. The whole act was that of a woman about forty years older than she actually was though. If the woman was thirty-five it didn’t really show. Her cheeks were a little plump though, which might hide some of the lines under the face paint.

  Eve tilted her head a bit.

  “Vampires and Shifters? Like, as neighbors? Or do you just mean in the general area?”

  There was a pause, and a deep intake of breath, as the woman whispered at her, hissing a tiny bit in the effort.

  “Both! Right next door, the man who lives there, he turns into a large cat. I can’t believe it, but I saw him do it on the news. How am I supposed to sell anything in this market? I wouldn’t even have taken this house, but we’re required not to discriminate, by law. No one knows if that counts for the dead yet, but the word has come down, from the higher ups. For now we have to act like Vampires are real people. Still, they didn’t say that I couldn’t let people know about things like that before they move in.” She sounded conspiratorial about it, so Eve nodded along for a bit, and kept looking at the house.

  It really was a great place, but she didn’t really want to help this lady out too much. Just as the woman was about to leave, she winked and leaned in though.

  “What about darkies? Oh, and the Irish? You don’t have any of those around here, do you?”

  To her credit, perhaps, the woman got the idea and stiffened. Her nose actually climbed upward in the air too. It was kind of cute, in a piggy looking way.

  “I didn’t know that you’d have a problem with people being different.” She almost growled the words, trying to take a step back, to physically distance herself from Eve.

  To get away from the clearly creepy asshole.

  “Oh, I don’t. Just, there’s no difference between a Vampire and a black family wanting to move in, is there? Or some Shifters? I mean, as long as they vote and take care of their lawn, then what’s the problem?”

  Now Sheila frowned, the idea of what Eve was getting at sinking home.

  “Well, I don’t know that any African Americans would want to kill me and drink my blood. They wouldn’t be turning into a wolf man on the full moon and try to sneak into my house though, would they?”

  “Nooo, they wouldn’t, even if they were Shifters. Then, Vampires need to leave you alive, and it’s against their own rules for them to feed on people directly now, so even that isn’t too big of a threat. Cormack, the man that I’m thinking of buying this place for is Irish though, so you may want to keep that in mind. He’s good Irish though. Hardly drinks at all, and doesn’t have a cooked cabbage fetish. That I know of.” He might, come to think of it. That probably wasn’t the case though, since it was just too bizarre to even figure out how it might work, as far as sexual gratification went.

  “Hmmm. You’re planning to buy this as a present for someone else?”

  She nodded, making it seem happy.

  “Yeah. He’s the new Vampire ambassador for this state. A good friend of mine, and no, he doesn’t eat people or anything. In fact, he only eats cow, which is no worse than most of the people you know, is it? Hence me getting a bit snooty with you. Everything you said about Vampires was wrong, and you were off about Shifters, too. For one thing, both groups have people of all skin colors and religions.” She stopped, since it was kind of clear that the woman was getting upset. As in angry, rather than just confused, or unsettled.

  The woman glared a bit, and finally leaned in to hiss, keeping her voice down as it was clear that someone was in the front lawn next door. There was a fence, but the man there was tall enough to be seen over it. He was pretending to rake, she thought.

  Sheila sounded well and truly pissed though.

  “This is a pretty normal area. Maybe you should send your freak friend someplace else? We don’t need more of that kind here. There should be a law against it.”

  Eve shrugged, then looked over at the man, who was forcing a smile on his broad, dusky face. Eve waved to him, and spoke in a normal tone.

  “Or you need even more of that kind? It seems like it to me. This is a nice neighborhood, too. I take it you don’t live near here?” She just meant it was pricy, but it sounded so catty that she got glared at over it.

  “No, I don’t. Thankfully.”

  Then, rather hastily, the woman got into her car without saying anything else, and drove off. It was mid-afternoon still, so after watching her leave, Eve moved toward the stone wall, which was about five feet high, that separated the two properties. It was better than an acre for this one, which given how close to the Node complex it was, had to be a lucky find. There was enough space to have some extra trees put in, if Cormack wanted that kind of thing.

  She waved at the man again, getting close enough to tell that he didn’t smell strictly Human. Probably a Shifter of some kind, then. Not a Cat though. Something different. More reptilian.

  “Hey. I was thinking about buying this place. I don’t suppose that all the neighbors are like her?” She didn’t have to wave after the car, since it was clear that the guy in front of her got the general idea.

  “No. Really most of the people here are pretty nice. That’s the second clearest case of someone just hating on Vampires I’ve seen yet. The worst one was a group of protestors that were throwing things at the kids from the Yoghurt World, in the mall down the street. That sucked, because the poor kids are just the daytime staff. All Humans, you know?”

  She nodded, since that was what would have to happen, if you didn’t have someone around that was able to stay up all day. It was kind of why Cormack was getting the job, really. That he was also responsible and knew the work was just a bonus.

  “Really? Well, that’s good to hear. Maybe I’ll make an offer. Thanks, by the way. Do you live here?”

  There was a head shake then, the Latino guy smiling and glancing back at the house.

  “I wish. No, I just do the yard work. I don’t suppose your buddy would want a gardener? If you get him this place. You really shouldn’t let that bitch make your mind up for you. It isn’t like you’ll be living with her.” He looked down the road and glared, then glanced back at her. “Anyway, I should get back to work, if I’m trying to get you to suggest my services to your friend. Julio. I’ll drop a card off for him, if you get the place.”

  “Thanks. That’s probably a good plan, at least to start with. I know nothing about lawns and all that.” She waved again, and felt foolish for it, then took off as fast as she could, once the man had gone back to work.

  The real esta
te agent had left a bad taste in her mouth, one that even the agony she threw herself into didn’t fully erase. It was the twenty-first century, for goodness sake. Eve really would have thought that things like bigotry would be gone by now. Apparently that wasn’t true. They had Shifters, Vampires, and chubby people left to hate on, after all.

  Of course the world really needed to watch out for those big people. They could be anyone, after all. Hiding there, in secret. Eating all the sandwiches.

  She tried to smile to herself about it, but even playing at that kind of thing anymore just seemed like a lot less fun. In her life Eve had been looked down on for several different things, herself. For being a slut, and for being poor, mainly. For having a bad mother and a father that had basically just walked away from her. This had been the first time she’d ever met a person that wasn’t holding a sign that really just seemed to hate her though. Just for being.

  Hell, even the protestors had mainly just seemed scared, not like they were just evil people looking for a reason to dislike someone else. Sheila there, she hadn’t been like that, had she? No, the closest to that kind of thing that Eve had ever been before had been that man, months back, who’d tried to shoot Edom. Even that was more about fear than hate though, or so it had seemed to her at the time.

  This was different, and left her feeling edgy as she pushed herself to get back faster than she really had to. Then, as she got to the edge of the city, she realized something. It wasn’t her problem. Oh, it was annoying to have to deal with bad people like that, but it wasn’t anything that she should let ruin her day. So she fought for a smile, and to forget the woman, as best she could.

  It was still a good house, and a nice neighborhood. One in which that creature didn’t live. Her friend, Cormack, would be fine there. Maybe even happy? She hoped so.

  Stopping by Troy’s again, since he had actual computer equipment, and a real printer, Eve made up a card for Cormack, congratulating him. Then she slipped in a picture of the house. It didn’t do it justice, but she left in the address to the web site, so that he could see more of it, if he didn’t want to pick something else.

  Then she changed, into jeans and a t-shirt, a nice purple one this time, and got back just in time to meet him at the door as he came in. It was early, but he didn’t need sleep anymore, so having him come in at six was fair enough.

  It was a funny thing, but none of the Vampires she’d met had a good concept of real work hours. Part of that, she knew, had been about the fact that Lenore had worked nearly every day shift by herself for years. Possibly decades. It was hard to whine about having to work long hours when the boss was required to do even longer, and never got a break.

  The other part was that some of them were just so old that the idea of working a twelve hour shift was kind of natural to them. It was the time from sun up to its setting. That was the natural time that a person could work, right? The Humans, at least. Now they could have pushed longer, but the point wasn’t what could be done, but the habits that people had grown up with.

  Not that the work was hard, but things could be a little boring at times.

  Not that day though.

  Eve was literally right behind Cormack at the door, and could see the ten people inside, waiting for them. They were all Vampires, and from the stillness of several of them, they seemed very young. Not as much so as she was, but like kids anyway.

  They were mainly behind Lenore, however, who smiled hugely at Cormack, when he got through the door.

  “Ambassador Gillhall.” Then she moved forward, not wearing her work apron over her nice blue dress, since this was an official thing, and put her hand out to shake.

  Cormack seemed to understand, and took the hand instantly.

  “What’s this now? I got a promotion?”

  Lenore nodded, and beamed at him.

  “You did! You’re the new ambassador for the Iowa Node. It’s set up is rather like our own, which is why the Council decided to place you there, instead of one of the other places, I believe.”

  Bey was smiling too, and moved in to shake the larger Vampire’s hand, his face nearly splitting in two he was so pleased.

  “Ah! This was indeed part of the reason. It will take much effort, to put things to right there. They have not had an ambassador in all their history, and only a sole, very youthful, young lady to work the nights there. Sandra, I believe the name is? She has done her best, but with you there, we can run a much more official station. The goal is to turn that place into a major hub, given its central location. It may sound a humble thing, but there is much room for growth, if you choose to see it as such.”

  David, who was standing next to a young looking girl, who seemed to be about fourteen or so, and had a thin body, but a round face that was nearly boxy, cleared his throat.

  “See, now it looks like I should have worked harder at staying awake, doesn’t it?”

  Eve chuckled, and nodded.

  “It does. Well, no big thing, we’ll just start over. We can run out in a few days and help fix up the Yoghurt World in Iowa. If Lenore and Edom are all right with that?” She looked at them, and then glanced at Bey, who would let her know if she had other things to work on.

  Lenore shook her head.

  “David will be working nights here, and I don’t think he can make the trip back and forth each day. Perhaps if you’d see to aiding Ginger? You could stay at Cormack’s new dwelling there?”

  Eve shrugged, not knowing who Ginger was, but seeing the girl next to David straighten, guessed that it might just be her. She looked really young, barely a teen, but that didn’t mean anything for a Vampire. That she hadn’t been working the embassy though probably did. What that was, however, Eve needed to find out.

  She shrugged though.

  “Not likely. It will take at least a month for everything to clear. Oh, here, it’s from all of us.” She handed the envelope over, which looked a bit low rent, suddenly. It was just a regular kind of thing, made of white paper, meant to hold checks to pay the electric and cable bills. It was all Troy had on hand. Cormack however, didn’t seem to mind.

  He hugged her when the whole thing hit him.

  “You’ve gotten me a mansion?”

  “Well, you don’t have to take that one in particular, but it’s a nice place. I looked at it today, earlier. It’s close to the mall there, and the neighbor is a Shifter. I don’t know who he is, but I met the gardener, and he seemed nice.” She left off the stuff with Sheila, since even if it was everyone in the area, Cormack was already going, and couldn’t get out of it, she was willing to bet. Not unless he wanted to piss off the Council.

  “It’s incredible, girl! I’ll need to see about getting some staff in, it sounds like. What say, Barbara? I could use a second there.”

  Lenore reached out, and took the girl’s arm, then shook her head.

  “No. She’ll be needed here, as second. You’ll need to look elsewhere for someone to do that work for you.”

  That got Edom to look at her, his face curious, but not upset seeming. He was, it seemed out of a job, but Lenore winked at him, as Bey moved in, to bow, a bit.

  The ancient Vampire smiled, and clapped him on the arm, after he stood up.

  “Ambassador Freeman shall stand for the Council here, as Miss Hawthorne moves to take the position of Vaughn, as Regional Director for the Western States. It is, how do they say in these modern days? A shake up. Vaughn is moving to Washington D.C. and will be the official liaison to the governments of North America.”

  It was a lot to take in, all at once, but a bunch of people, some of them her people, were getting promotions. That was exciting, if a little scary. After all, she’d kind of thought that they’d all be there for her, unchanging, for a long time. Now it was different. In a single moment, her world had shifted on her, and that left her feeling uneasy. Not that she couldn’t handle it. This wasn’t her first time after all, and she was used to things happening without her permission. That was, after all, just
life.

  So she smiled, even though some of the others seemed a bit uneasy too. It wasn’t just her, which was nice, in a misery loves company kind of way.

  The younger looking Vampire, who was smaller than anyone else there, Ginger, wiped at her shoulder length blonde hair, and made a face. It was fierce seeming. Covering a bit of fear.

  “So, we’re moving? I don’t know what this means for me… Which is selfish. Sorry.” She managed to look contrite then, and Lenore winced, and looked away.

  Everyone else looked away, too, except for Barb, who moved in and touched the girl’s arm.

  “I guess that makes sense. Still, you can visit us here, and stay sometimes?” She looked at Lenore, who did nod then, even if she was a bit uneasy about it all.

  “I won’t leave you, Ginger. Don’t worry about that. Not until you’re ready.”

  It was actually really sweet to hear, for Eve at least. The girl started to get mad though, the change being too much for her. Her hand curled into a fist, and Lenore seemed to be getting ready to strike out, to control her with a beating.

  Eve cleared her throat, and waved her hand in the air a bit. It worked, getting the red eyed and tiny girl to look at her.

  “Stop that. You’re with me for the time being, to learn control, and how to stay up all day. You can travel with Lenore then, and be her assistant, or move into another job, if you want, after that. It’s like school, and a pain, but you’ll have David to boss around, if you can.” She liked the turn of phrase, and smiled as the girl came for her. Eve just moved out of the way, several times, as she was flailed at.

  Finally she grimaced, and grabbed the girl’s tiny fist out of the air, holding it still.

  “So, this is the last time you do this, understood? Not because you’ll be beaten if you don’t, but because you’re in control of yourself now. Take it. Take control. You own this.” Then Eve let go, ready for more hitting.

  It didn’t come. The girl just froze, her face looking hard and her eyes a lovely blood red color. Everyone else just stood there, watching the scene unfold.