keeping our little community safe. A Miss Maxwell, I believe?”
“Morgan, yeah. Though I’m not sure I’d use the word ‘safe’ so much as ‘civil.’”
“It seems we just can’t agree on each other’s vernacular,” Franklin said with a loud laugh, like it was the funniest thing he’d heard all night. The others followed along with a litany of forced guffaws, as if the phrase didn't make them want to curl up and die.
It’s possible I was projecting.
“You’re a cop?” asked a perky blonde with a dress so low cut it was almost illegal.
“More like a sheriff,” I said. “Sounds cooler. But please, don’t let me interrupt. You were just starting a new story.”
Franklin nodded. “Right, so I was in Tijuana and caught wind of this donkey show…”
It took three more glasses of wine before I could find any sort of humor in the giant small man’s stories. Somehow, he managed to make a tale involving a donkey, a virgin, and a monkey that could juggle knives sound boring. Eventually, I wiggled my way to the front of the group until I was standing next to him. I swallowed my pride and a mouthful of wine as I giggled and flirted my way through another half-hour of conversation that made getting shot through the throat seem fun.
Marcus owed me two Rolexes for this. Or maybe a car with heated seats. And one of his penthouses.
“I must say, red is a striking color on you,” Franklin said as the groupies drifted away.
I shook myself out of the thought of Marcus handing over the keys to a brand new duplex. Hey, my little nest was precious to me, but a ten million dollar view of the city would do wonders in helping me get over the loss.
“That’s very kind of you, Mister Franklin, but almost everyone looks good in red.”
“Nonsense! Not everyone can pull off something so bold and…slit.” His eyes roamed over my body again. Those dozen showers were going to have be with bleach. “And please, call me Robert. We’re all friends here, after all.”
“Then, as one friend to another, allow me to congratulate you on the new job.”
“Thank you kindly.” He beamed. “It’s been a long time coming, I should say. It’s nice to know our new fearless leader has a good eye for talent.”
I bit my lip. It was now or never. “If you have a moment, Robert, maybe we could speak a bit more? In private.”
“Is that so?” Robert said, his tone husky and lascivious as he leaned closer to me.
I should’ve played along. I should’ve let him think I wanted to sleep with him long enough to get him alone and then knock him out or something. Instead, the words that spilled out of my mouth were, “It’s about the bodies found near the Hudson.”
Smooth. So smooth.
His expression – and my chances of success – fell. “Oh. Don’t you worry about that, little missy. Just a few overzealous rebels riding the coattails of the rising regime.” His breath reeked with the pungent scent of blood, to the point where it made my stomach curl. “You hunters are always so worried about every little death. Take some time to relax, life ends sooner than you think. Trust me,” he added with a wink. Great, he just ruined puns for me. This was officially personal.
“Well, it’s my job to worry about those kinds of things.” I steeled my nerves, adjusting my voice to a throatier, hopefully sultry, pitch. “Still. is there somewhere we can go to be alone? I’d…like to get to know you a bit more than what I can learn from stories.”
“I see,” he said, grinning like a kid with the world’s largest cookie . I can’t believe this is actually working. “Follow me.”
I shot a quick glance over to Khalil, who gave me a discreet thumbs up, then to Alex, who looked like he’d managed to drink even more than I had, before deciding I hated both of them and was going to live the rest of my days with my talking cat-mother and sort-of sister/cousin. But first, I had to extract some blood from a vampire.
Robert
“Morgan, yeah. Though I’m not sure I’d use the word ‘safe’ so much as ‘civil.’”
“It seems we just can’t agree on each other’s vernacular,” Franklin said with a loud laugh, like it was the funniest thing he’d heard all night. The others followed along with a litany of forced guffaws, as if the phrase didn't make them want to curl up and die.
It’s possible I was projecting.
“You’re a cop?” asked a perky blonde with a dress so low cut it was almost illegal.
“More like a sheriff,” I said. “Sounds cooler. But please, don’t let me interrupt. You were just starting a new story.”
Franklin nodded. “Right, so I was in Tijuana and caught wind of this donkey show…”
It took three more glasses of wine before I could find any sort of humor in the giant small man’s stories. Somehow, he managed to make a tale involving a donkey, a virgin, and a monkey that could juggle knives sound boring. Eventually, I wiggled my way to the front of the group until I was standing next to him. I swallowed my pride and a mouthful of wine as I giggled and flirted my way through another half-hour of conversation that made getting shot through the throat seem fun.
Marcus owed me two Rolexes for this. Or maybe a car with heated seats. And one of his penthouses.
“I must say, red is a striking color on you,” Franklin said as the groupies drifted away.
I shook myself out of the thought of Marcus handing over the keys to a brand new duplex. Hey, my little nest was precious to me, but a ten million dollar view of the city would do wonders in helping me get over the loss.
“That’s very kind of you, Mister Franklin, but almost everyone looks good in red.”
“Nonsense! Not everyone can pull off something so bold and…slit.” His eyes roamed over my body again. Those dozen showers were going to have be with bleach. “And please, call me Robert. We’re all friends here, after all.”
“Then, as one friend to another, allow me to congratulate you on the new job.”
“Thank you kindly.” He beamed. “It’s been a long time coming, I should say. It’s nice to know our new fearless leader has a good eye for talent.”
I bit my lip. It was now or never. “If you have a moment, Robert, maybe we could speak a bit more? In private.”
“Is that so?” Robert said, his tone husky and lascivious as he leaned closer to me.
I should’ve played along. I should’ve let him think I wanted to sleep with him long enough to get him alone and then knock him out or something. Instead, the words that spilled out of my mouth were, “It’s about the bodies found near the Hudson.”
Smooth. So smooth.
His expression – and my chances of success – fell. “Oh. Don’t you worry about that, little missy. Just a few overzealous rebels riding the coattails of the rising regime.” His breath reeked with the pungent scent of blood, to the point where it made my stomach curl. “You hunters are always so worried about every little death. Take some time to relax, life ends sooner than you think. Trust me,” he added with a wink. Great, he just ruined puns for me. This was officially personal.
“Well, it’s my job to worry about those kinds of things.” I steeled my nerves, adjusting my voice to a throatier, hopefully sultry, pitch. “Still. is there somewhere we can go to be alone? I’d…like to get to know you a bit more than what I can learn from stories.”
“I see,” he said, grinning like a kid with the world’s largest cookie . I can’t believe this is actually working. “Follow me.”
I shot a quick glance over to Khalil, who gave me a discreet thumbs up, then to Alex, who looked like he’d managed to drink even more than I had, before deciding I hated both of them and was going to live the rest of my days with my talking cat-mother and sort-of sister/cousin. But first, I had to extract some blood from a vampire.
Robert
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