I woke up a few hours before dawn to an empty bed. I’d expected as much, but I still wished I could have woken to Jack’s warmth next to me. Everything sounded quiet upstairs. I found a pile of new clothes waiting for me on the coffee table, along with a note from Jack.

My fierce tiger,

Sorry to sneak out on you like this, I have to go out for a few hours. There’s some blood in the dumbwaiter for you. Call me if you need anything before I get back.

Hugs and kisses.

Love you,

Jack

I smiled as I read it, and tucked it into my pocket to save it to read again later.

While I waited for the sun to go down, I took a shower, changed into the new clothes, and chugged down the breakfast of cold blood. One of these days I’d need to try adding it to coffee or something. Couldn’t make it any worse-tasting that was for sure.

Since sunset was still over an hour away, I picked out a thriller novel off one of the shelves and sat down on the couch. I’d heard it was good, or at least good enough to have a movie made based on it, which I hadn’t seen either.

The tablet was upstairs, and after what I saw on the news the other night, I was swearing off TV for a bit. So instead I lost myself in a fictional world of murder that, while ridiculous, was more believable than my current circumstances.

A door slammed upstairs, and then the floor creaked as if many people were walking around up there. I frowned and looked up at the clock on the wall. 11:00 pm. I’d gotten more caught up reading than I’d meant to; the book was as good as advertised. I wondered where Jack had been until so late. I hoped too that he hadn’t gotten too much flak from Emily when he’d returned her car.

The door to the basement opened and then Jack’s voice wafted down.

“Everett, can you come upstairs please?” “Coming,” I called, and put down the book.

When I got to the stairs, the door leading to the kitchen was open and no one was visible. I made my way up slowly, unable to help but feel like something was wrong.

Jack stood in the archway that led to the living room when I entered the kitchen. Waving me over, he smiled at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

I hesitated and tilted my head, trying to see past Jack into the living room. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Jack’s smile slipped. “We have some visitors with some good news.” He stepped back into the living room and gestured for me to join him.

I wanted to ask why, if it was good news, Jack looked like he was attending a funeral, but instead I walked over to stand next to him in the archway. As I took in the crowd of visitors, Jack draped his arm over my shoulders, careful not to jostle my hurt shoulder. I recognized Stacy and one of the two men with her as Ted from the PCA. Besides them there were two more people, one man and one woman who I didn’t know. All vampires if I had to guess, since they were with Stacy and Ted. I’d bet their presence was also the reason for Jack’s bad mood.

“Good news,” Stacy said. “The council has looked at your case and come to a decision. You’re to be given this decade’s slot.”

She paused and looked at me expectantly, waiting for a reaction. Puzzled, I twisted my head to look up at Jack, who looked as baffled as I felt.

“Slot?” I asked, looking back at Stacy and then around the room. The female vampire’s face twisted up in a snarl and she glared at me, but didn’t say anything. Both men were impassive. “How is that the good news?”

Stacy sighed. “I suppose you don’t know. In order to keep the vampire population in check so that there aren’t more vampires in a given area than the human population can support, only a limited number of humans are allowed to be turned each decade.”

I stared at her. “Wait, so what if a vampire is made without a slot, as you called it?”

“They are destroyed,” Stacy said in a deadpan.

I blanched, and Jack’s hand tightened on my uninjured arm.

“Don’t worry.” Stacy smiled and folded her hands in front of her. “You’re getting the next slot, so you don’t have to be destroyed.”

“But I didn’t have a choice!” I tried not to yell. I wasn’t mad at her, but I couldn’t help but be a little frustrated.

“Which is why the council ruled in your favor,” Stacy said, her tone turning hard. The woman with her began grinding her teeth until Stacy shot her a hard look.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. “And the other problem?”

“The council accepted Jack’s proposed solution.” Stacy smiled, as if that answered everything.

I glanced up at Jack. “And that is?”

“He didn’t tell you?”

Jack had the grace to look embarrassed. “No. I didn’t know if the council would agree, and there was no need to upset him unduly if there wasn’t a need to,” Jack said to Stacy, not meeting my eyes.

“Yes, the possessiveness you mentioned.” Stacy gestured to the vampires flanking her. “That is why I brought backup. Ted, Luke, if you please.”

I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything, the men darted forward and ripped me away from Jack’s side. They twisted me around and threw me against the wall next to the door face-first, one holding each of my arms painfully behind my back. I cried out as my injured shoulder was ground into the wall.

“Hey, careful!” Jack yelled.

“He’s just being dramatic,” Stacy said. I couldn’t see anything but plaster and vampire arm as my face was pressed against the wall. “Now, where does he keep it?”

Jack sighed. “Let me.”

“Too dangerous,” Stacy said. “You stay back.”

“Look, he trusts me. And it’s not like he isn’t dangerous to you either.” Jack’s voice was patient.

“What?” the vampire holding my right arm asked. “What does he mean by that?”

Stacy sighed. “I wish you hadn’t said anything, Jack.”

“They’d have to find out eventually, Stacy. Just tell them to let him go.”

“Fine, let him up.”

The pressure on my arms disappeared and the men let me go, although they stayed where they were. I straightened my shirt and turned, feeling a bit boxed in by the much taller men on either side of me.

“We would have found out what?” the same vampire—now on my left—asked, giving me a wary look. “What danger is he to us? He’s tiny.”

I folded my arms and glared up at him. Luke by process of elimination, since I recognized Ted on my right.

“He’s of a rare bloodline that can feed off other vampires,” Stacy said, placing her hands on her cocked hips as she regarded me. The vampires on either side of me both sidled a step away. “That line was thought to be extinguished thousands of years ago. No doubt part of the other reason the council let him live. Though other than the council telling me that, and that he is to be allowed to live, they wouldn’t divulge any more details.”

“On that note, any progress on finding my maker?” I asked, dropping my challenging gaze from Luke next to me to look at Stacy. I was genuinely curious, despite my anger at being ganged up on.

“No, but don’t worry, we will.” Stacy snapped her fingers and Jack moved over to stand in front of me, holding up a cloth bag. “The amulet. Now.”

I glanced down at the bag and then around the room, finally getting the plan. “Wait, you’re going to give a human mob boss a magical amulet? Jack did tell you what I found out about it, right?”

Stacy rolled her eyes. “She’s only a human; she won’t know what it does. We did some research on her. Her house is filled with stolen occult artifacts from around the world. No doubt she just wants it for her collection.” Stacy waved a hand dismissively. “In a few months after your faked death, we’ll send someone to steal it back, so she won’t connect the theft to you.”

Jack gave me a pleading look. “It’s the fastest way to get her to call off her goons. I made contact with her today—”

“You what!” I jumped. “How? Why?”

“I was getting there.” Jack gave me a patient look. “I called my old cell phone, she answered. I negotiated with her. The amulet for your life.” He shook the bag. “So please, Everett, can you give it to me?”

I swallowed and licked my lips, but did as Jack asked and reached into my pocket. I pulled the amulet out and lifted it up to eye level to stare at it. I held it out over the bag and tried to drop it, but my fingers wouldn’t let go. Someone moved in my peripheral vision. I snapped my arm back to my chest, crouched, and hissed at a startled-looking Jack. “No! It’s mine! I won’t let you steal it!”

Stacy pushed Jack aside as I lunged for him. Jack fell to the floor and Stacy caught me by the throat, holding me at arm’s length. Luke and Ted grabbed my arms, and together the three shoved me to the floor and pinned me down. The woman rushed forward and tackled my flailing legs.

“Don’t touch the gold with bare skin,” Stacy called over the melee as they struggled to contain me in my frenzy. “We don’t know what its effects might be.”

I barely heard them over the voice in my head screaming at me to get away before they took my precious amulet.

Take it away and keep it safe.

After a few moments they managed to get me firmly pinned down, although it took the combined strength of four of them to keep me down. I was dimly aware of Jack nearby, but the voice beat at my mind, driving away any other thought except the amulet.

“Don’t hurt him!” Jack yelled over the chaos. “And I need the amulet now if Zoe and I are going to make the meeting with Lady Ann in time.”

“Lin, the muzzle,” Stacy requested in a calm voice, as if she were sitting at a desk asking for a pencil rather than fighting a snapping, snarling vampire.

The woman sitting on my legs who been shooting me daggers earlier pulled out a leather face mask that looked like it had come right out of Silence of the Lambs, and tossed it to Stacy. She put it over my face, strapping it around the back of my head so tightly, the straps dug into my skin.

“Shit,” Stacy said, letting go of my throat and standing up. I was still snapping at the vampires holding me. “We’re going to have to sedate him.”

“Ya think?” Ted gasped, barely keeping hold of my injured arm. Vaguely I knew it hurt to fight, but it was like the pain belonged to someone else.

Stacy came back, holding a needle filled with dark red fluid. She knelt and grabbed my hair, wrenching my head to the side, then plunged the needle into my neck. The world went black.

***

I woke up with a pounding headache, and the feel of leather straps digging into my head. Something plastic-y yet pliable was wrapped around my entire body. I was so thirsty. I opened my eyes, but darkness greeted me.

Rock music blared from somewhere behind my head, almost drowning out the sound of two people conversing and the background hum of road noise. I recognized Stacy’s voice, and thought the man talking to her might have been Ted. The surface I lay on bounced as the car went over a pothole.

All I could think of was the amulet. I could feel it moving away from me, and I wanted to scream in frustration. The voice was a little quieter now, giving me enough presence of mind to swallow the sound down to a low growl. Still, it was like someone else talked over my thoughts, making it hard for me to focus.

Jack was in danger, I could feel it. Lady Ann wasn’t going to let things go that easily, but the voice in my head screaming about getting its amulet back quickly pushed all thoughts of Jack away.

It took me a few moments of wriggling to get my hands up from where the tight plastic had them pinned to my side. I grasped the material in front of my face and pulled until I had torn a large enough hole for me to see through. Sticking my arms through first, I got my head and shoulders out so I could sit up and look around. I was in a long car, lying on a gurney. A dark curtain hid the car’s front seat. Thick straps circled my legs and torso—so that was why it’d been hard to move.

Wait, was I in a body bag? And was this a hearse? I shook my head. So cliché, vampires driving a hearse.

I fumbled with the buckles of the face mask, ripping it off with a satisfied grunt and tossing it away.

“What was that?” Stacy suddenly asked from the front seat. I twisted around to look behind me. A hand came through the curtain, pushing it aside to reveal Stacy’s face. Her mouth dropped open as we locked eyes. She looked delicious. All I could see her as was a meal, although vaguely in the back of my mind I knew she had a name. My fangs descended, and I began fighting to pull my legs out of the bag.

“Fuck, Ted, he’s awake! Pull over, pull over and come help me!” Stacy screamed, unbuckling her seat belt to begin climbing into the back seat.

“What the hell!” Ted yelled. “He should be out until at least tomorrow!”

The car abruptly slowed and jerked to the side, sending me and the gurney tumbling over. The gurney landed on top of me, but I didn’t even feel it. I kicked my legs free and lunged for Stacy. My front half collided with her as she finished crawling into the back, slamming us both against the back of the front seats. I opened my mouth wide and bit her shoulder through her blouse. I sucked greedily at her blood. Stacy screamed and fought under me for only a moment before going limp from my venom.

The voice screamed at me to kill the one who took the amulet from me, but the blood hitting my stomach gave me a shock of clarity. The only thing I could compare it to was like when I’d had coffee the morning after a late night at the bar, and the caffeine hit. I let go, shoving the limp Stacy away from me while licking the last of her blood from my lips.

At that moment, Ted threw open the curtain and froze, eyes flicking back and forth between Stacy’s motionless body and me. I grinned at him, showing off my fangs and bloody lips.

Ted pursed his lips and reached down slowly to unclip his seatbelt while our eyes remained locked. Before I could move, Ted had the door open and slid out. I lunged after him, but got tangled in the curtain. By the time I tore free of the fabric, Ted stood warily in front of the car.

I ignored him and climbed into the driver’s seat, closing the car door. The keys still dangled from the ignition. Perfect. I started the hearse back up. Ted frowned, but backed over to the side of the road.

My feet couldn’t even reach the pedals, so I adjusted the driver’s seat closer to the steering wheel before putting the car into drive and flipping an abrupt U-turn. I ignored the angry honks of the other driver’s and sped towards the amulet’s pull. In the rearview mirror, I glanced back to see Ted standing where I’d left him. He had a cellphone pressed to his ear and was shouting at the person on the other end, gesturing at the retreating hearse.

In the back of the vehicle, Stacy slurred like a drunk, but I ignored her. I needed to get the amulet back. My amulet. The voice told me so. I’d feel better once I had it back. I didn’t know where Jack was meeting Lady Ann, forcing me to drive back and forth through the streets as I tried to home in on its location. I followed the feeling north and west, and ended up on Lombard street going north past the industrial parks north of Saint John’s, which were all dark and shuttered at this late hour.

I was getting close, I could feel it. The voice began to quiet as I drew nearer, letting me think more clearly.

“Jack, have to rescue Jack. Not the amulet. Jack,” I said out loud in an attempt to remember why I was really here. I didn’t care about the amulet, despite what the voice in my head was yelling. Let Lady Ann have it. But Jack, I had to protect Jack from her. She wasn’t about to let my defiance of her go so easily, despite what she’d told him. She had to have figured out that Jack had been helping me, and she was going to punish him for it, I could feel it.

The clock on the dash said 12:48 am as the hearse bumped over the bridge over the Columbia Slough, where Lombard turned into Marine Drive. Suddenly, the amulet felt like it was behind me.

The voice screamed so loud in my head that I felt like a spear was being stabbed through my face. My vision went black. I took my foot off the gas and my hands off the steering wheel to clutch my aching head. The car swerved to the right, bouncing onto the sidewalk before hitting a streetlight with a crash.

The airbags went off with a bang, smacking me in the face. In the back, Stacy cried out as she was flung halfway into the front seat. Her eyes were still glazed over and she lay there moaning, covered in broken glass from the shattered windshield. Steam rose from the engine where it was wrapped around the light pole.

“Amulet, amulet, amulet!” the voice screamed in my head. Or maybe it was me screaming out loud. “Back, back, go, fast. Ours.”

I kicked the bent driver’s-side door and stumbled out clutching my aching head.

“No, Jack. Jack.”

It was like my thoughts were fighting, pulling me in two. But my mind was united on one thing: I needed to go, now, towards the amulet. Where Jack would be.

I took off running down the road leading north, past the Kelley Point Park sign. The yellow gate that would have normally be closed at this late hour was wide open.

Kelley Point Park wasn’t a bad place for an exchange that you wanted to keep as quiet as possible. The heavily forested park lay on the little strip of land between where the Willamette River split from the Columbia, and was surrounded by business and industrial parks that were empty at night. There were no residential areas anywhere nearby.

Behind me, metal squealed as Stacy crawled out of the car. I glanced over my shoulder to see her swaying on her feet, clutching the side of the wrecked hearse to stay upright. She called out in a slurred voice, “Everett, Jack didn’t go alone! Come back! Nothing’s going to happen to him! Zoe’s with him.”

I ignored her and kept running.

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Continue on to Chapter 21

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