New Day Rising, page 17
As she approached the place in the canyon where the door had been, she was dismayed to find it was gone and a wall of rubble stood in its place.
Bobby hadn’t been bluffing about abandoning his longtime stronghold.
“Damn it.” She kicked at the small stones for want of a better place to direct her frustration. “I should’ve acted when I had the chance,” she chastised herself. But the scolding didn’t ring true. It would have been too dangerous to take them on alone, of that she was sure. She was stronger than ever, but she didn’t feel invincible. She hadn’t been turned into a demigod.
Without any further hesitation, Lucía leapt down into the dry ravine a hundred feet below. They were covering their tracks, but not perfectly. She ran at blinding speed, chasing the wind that carried Bobby’s scent.
* * *
Erin parked her rental car across from where Tracy had been dropped off after escaping the Mistress. When she stepped out and meandered closer, she detected her scent coming from the small, yellow house. It smelled like years of her, like her childhood, but nothing recent.
A short, moderately round, woman bolted out of the house with such speed it caught Erin off guard and left her with no option other than to pretend she had a good reason to be standing on her sidewalk staring at her house.
“If you’re selling newspapers, I already have a subscription to the Miami Herald. The damn thing just collects rainwater, but I got this great umbrella,” Tracy’s mother said, shaking the umbrella in her direction.
“Oh no, I was just here taking a survey about the water,” Erin smiled as she approached her, digging into her bounty hunting chops.
“Oh yeah,” she asked, still heading for her car. “Then where’s your clipboard?” she inquired through a slight Spanish accent.
“I use my phone. We have an app,” Erin replied with a wide grin, holding up her smartphone.
Tracy’s mom regarded her with open skepticism. “And what about a shirt or badge or something,” she wondered.
“We’re freelance,” Erin countered, getting into the groove of her ruse.
“It won’t take but a moment of your time.”
Tracy’s mom raised a darkly died eyebrow. “Alright, but hurry up. I have to get to the supermarket. There’s a limited coupon on paper towels
today, three for ten, and I don’t want to miss it.”
As Erin approached, she was bombarded by a crushing wave of sadness so intense it nearly knocked her backward. She maintained her cool as she devised questions about water quality, pressure, and taste, while her chest ached.
When they’d finished and Tracy’s mother was long gone, Erin doubled over with pain. She couldn’t let this stand. There was no doubt in her mind that she had to reunite Tracy with her mom. It was the wrong she was meant to correct. There was no reason for this woman to be suffering when her daughter was alive and well.
Once back in her rental car, Erin headed toward downtown where she knew the main vampire hangout was located. One of Lucía’s hotels was nearby, and she decided on staying there until sundown.
As soon as dusk was upon her, Erin slipped out of Lucía’s hotel and headed for her destination. The night was hot, but the breeze off the bay was magnificent. While walking the long blocks, Erin marveled at how many skyscrapers had been huddled onto such a small triangle of land.
An innocuous and sparsely populated martini bar on the bottom floor of a tall building was an unexpected cover for the vampire bar hidden behind black curtains and a locked door. It had taken a call to Lucía to gain access, much to Erin’s embarrassment. Her bounty hunting skills really had gone rusty from disuse.
The hidden space behind the martini bar was enormous. She was impressed that such a place could exist in plain sight but remain concealed.
They must have used a lot of resources just to make it soundproof.
The nightclub had the feel of a big tent spectacle, complete with aerial performers and several stages, but it was still early and Erin was one of the
first to arrive. She made a beeline for the bar situated at the center of the space.
“What can I get you?” An attractive dark-skinned man placed a cocktail napkin in front of her and awaited her order.
Erin debated asking if he had blood, but she didn’t know how to form the question so she reverted to her default. Whatever beer they had on draft.
When he returned with her beverage, she took the chance and asked if he knew Tracy. He didn’t. Hours passed unproductively as she grilled everyone who came in about Tracy. No one had ever heard of her. She slunk back to her spot at the bar.
“I’ve never seen you here before,” a young woman with a blonde pixie cut said as she slid in next to her.
“I’ve never been here before,” she replied with a smile.
“That’s good. I don’t like sloppy seconds, and cute girls like you tend to go fast,” she said. It took Erin a moment to realize she thought she was a human ready to present herself to a vampire.
“I’m looking for someone named Tracy,” she said, flashing her the corner of her fang.
“Oh shit, sorry,” the pixie said with a shrug, her sweet demeanor turning cold with the flip of a switch. “I don’t know a Tracy, but you should ask that lady over there,” she continued, pointing with her eyes at a woman heading for a private room in the back. “They call her the Mayor of the Miami Fang Machine. If she doesn’t know your ex-girlfriend, no one does.”
Erin didn’t bother correcting her. Instead, she mumbled her thanks before heading for the tall, dark-haired woman with the hourglass figure.
By the time she reached the back of the club, the woman was already sitting, legs crossed, with a gorgeous human at her side. The woman bared
her fangs at the intruder before retracting them upon identifying Erin.
“My apologies for not having recognized you sooner. I meant no disrespect to the Queen or her consort,” she apologized, standing and bowing her head.
“No worries,” Erin replied, uncomfortable with the sudden display of deference. “Do you think we could talk in private?” she asked, glancing at the human woman buttoning her blouse.
“Of course,” she nodded. “Be a dear and give us a minute?” The girl stood and left without a word. “Please, have a seat. Do you care for something to drink?” she said gesturing first to the red leather seating and then to the bottle of chilled champagne.
“I’m fine, thank you. I won’t be long—”
“Where are my manners? You must really forgive me. I’m not myself today. My name is Evelyn. Of course, I already know who you are. I was at the Queen’s re-coronation and I suppose your wedding,” Evelyn said, raising her glass of bubbly. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks, uh, actually it was more of an engagement party,” she said, laughing uncomfortably. She launched into her next thought before the other woman could say anything else. “I’m here because I’m hoping you might be able to help me find a friend. She’s in her early twenties, wasn’t turned very long ago. Pretty brown hair, dark green eyes, tall. . . curvy, I guess. Her name is Tracy, and—”
“I’m sorry,” she began, instantly deflating Erin’s hopes.
Erin sighed. “I guess nobody knows her here,” she said, getting to her feet.
“No, I knew her, but I’m sorry to tell you that she died,” Evelyn started, a cold sadness creeping into her words. “She died over a year ago now.”
“You know her?” Erin asked, surprised by the turn of events.
“I knew her,” she corrected, regret painted on her face. “I was with her the night she died. I lost track of her for a moment and—”
“Listen, I don’t mean to shock you, but Tracy isn’t dead. She got mixed up with a cult, which is a long story and not mine to tell, but she got out.
She’s not dead. I think she’s here in Miami somewhere. Though she’s proving hard to find.”
Evelyn’s huge, dazzling, brown eyes widened. “What are you saying?”
Erin put her hand on her forearm. Without getting bogged down in many details, she recounted how Tracy had helped her when she’d been taken captive and how she wouldn’t have made it home without her.
“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted after a long, stunned silence.
“Will you help me find her?” Erin asked. “I can’t stop feeling like she needs my help, and even if she doesn’t, I really want to thank her for everything she did for me.”
She knew she didn’t have to explain herself. As the Queen’s consort, she was sure any vampire would help her if she asked, but there was no need to flex her muscles.
Erin continued with a list of suggestions. “Maybe you know where she might be living? I already checked her mother’s house. She’s not there.
Probably because she also thinks she’s dead.”
“She used to work for me as a technician in my dental lab,” Evelyn began. “I’ll provide you a list of places she might be employed if she has returned to the field.”
Erin didn’t ask why the hell a vampire would be in the business of making dentures for people, despite her curiosity. “Thank you,” she said, relief flooding her tense body.
“I don’t know why she wouldn’t have come to me for help if she had indeed returned,” she added. The thought obviously troubled her deeply.
“I’m sure she’s just scared. Maybe she doesn’t know how to come back to a world that no longer feels like hers,” Erin replied, understanding the feeling of being displaced in one’s own life.
Evelyn’s reply was a somber nod. “Give me your number. I’ll text you a list,” she said snapping herself back to business.
Chapter Fifteen
After an hours-long pack meeting, Charlie dropped into Agnes’
overstuffed couch.
“Not much time to get your feet under you, huh?” Agnes asked, handing Charlie a tall glass of iced tea.
“You can say that again,” she replied, taking the drink with a heartfelt thanks. She hadn’t even had a chance to eat since becoming pack leader less than twelve hours prior.
“I’ll make you all some lunch,” she offered, leaving Bo and Charlie alone while she made herself busy in the kitchen. For a moment, Charlie wondered what Agnes would do all day if she didn’t have all their mouths to feed. She knew she also cooked for some of the older folks who needed the help. Maybe in another life she would have gone to culinary school.
“So, what are you thinking?” Bo asked after draining half her glass in a single go. “I’m not surprised so many people volunteered to train. Though I never realized how old our last fighters really are,” she added, a flash of worry in her eyes.
“I know,” she replied, exhaustion evident in her words and tired eyes. “I think we might need a little extra help. The pack has really enjoyed a tremendously long bout of peace,” she said with a weak smile. “Maybe it will be good to go and talk to Lucía. I haven’t been able to get her on the
phone and she hasn’t responded to my emails. Though I’m sure she’s up to her eyeballs in her own mess,” Charlie commented, guilt washing over her.
Since she’d reconnected to the wolves, she’d had so little time to help Lucía. “If she’s in New York, I can go see Tucker too. He’s the Alpha of a pack of city wolves.”
“City wolves?” Bo repeated with a good-natured laugh. “Ain’t that a contradiction in terms?”
“I know,” she said with a little chuckle. “He’s a good guy, more like family really, and he might be able to help.”
“When should we leave?” Bo asked.
Charlie’s heart sank. She wasn’t keen on having become pack leader only to leave so soon after. Someone needed to represent her when she was gone, and there was only one person she trusted to the task.
“Would you be my Beta?” Charlie asked abruptly. “There’s no one else I have faith in more than you,” she said, setting her glass down and taking Bo’s hands in hers.
Bo’s eyes widened for a moment before her dimples made an appearance. “That’s a pretty big job. Second-in-command is a serious position in such a large pack,” she said more seriously than Charlie had ever heard her speak. “I don’t want you to feel obligated to pick me. It’s a major decision. One you shouldn’t make hastily.”
“There is no one else on my list. I trust you with my heart and with the pack,” she replied, softly cupping Bo’s face. “When I get back, we’ll do a proper ceremony,” she hesitated. “If you accept?”
Bo closed her eyes before nodding deeply. “This means you don’t want me to go with you.”
“I do want you to come with me,” she replied. “But I need you to stay here and take my place while I’m gone. But only if you want to.”
“You’re my pack leader,” she replied, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “And I am your Beta. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than where you need me. Though I have to say, I don’t mind skipping out on that flight,” she joked.
Relief washed over Charlie’s tense back muscles. She exhaled deeply.
“You scared me there for a minute,” she admitted, pulling Bo into a tight embrace.
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” Bo whispered against the column of her neck.
“Alright, come on, there’ll be plenty enough time for that after you eat,”
Agnes scolded from the kitchen. “Your food will get cold.”
The top two wolves in the pack obeyed Agnes, holding hands as they made the short walk to the table.
“After we eat, do you want to go for a swim?” Bo asked, wiggling her eyebrows to entice her.
“Only if Agnes will come with, and the rest of the gang,” she replied, channeling Lucía’s practiced graciousness now that she was a leader in her own right.
Agnes suppressed a smile. “Only if you eat up. Now, come on,” she said, setting a plate for herself at the table.
* * *
It was early evening and suffocatingly humid when Erin arrived at the seventh establishment Evelyn suggested. The first six had been duds, and it had taken her an entire day of sitting in traffic to cross them off her list.
The city’s got nothing on the traffic in this place, she thought when she parked the car and pulled her wavy blonde hair, made frizzy by the wet heat, into a messy bun.
Before she stepped out of her rental car, Erin heard an old car rattle by, and then she smelled her. Even through the moving vehicle and the enclosed car, she had no doubt that Tracy had just driven behind her.
Erin turned the car back on and flew out of the space just in time to get two car lengths away from Tracy. She followed her through traffic for an hour before turning down a small street in a residential neighborhood.
When Tracy parked on a patch of dirt under an enormous Banyan tree, Erin stopped too.
“Tracy,” she called as she jumped out of the car.
Dark brown hair swiveled around as Tracy looked back at the unexpected call of her name.
“Erin? What are you doing here?” she asked, unable to hide her surprise.
“Is that an unhappy what are you doing here, or a delighted one?” she joked, lingering near her open car door. Tracy ran across the street and flung her arms around her, nearly strangling her with a bear hug. “Guess that answers that,” she joked, feigning difficulty breathing.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” Tracy exclaimed, as if her reaction hadn’t clued Erin in on that fact.
“Me neither. You weren’t easy to find,” she replied when Tracy finally let go.
“I had no idea anyone would be looking,” she offered with a weak smile. “Come on, let’s go inside,” she said, looking at the nosy neighbor with her judgmental face in the window.
“This is a really nice house,” Erin offered as they started up the paved driveway.
“Oh, I live in the back,” she replied, color rushing to her cheeks.
“Hey, it’s still nicer than my apartment. At least you have a view of something other than a brick wall,” she said genuinely, not counting any of Lucía’s places as her own. “You’ve got a yard and everything,” she added, pointing to the little fenced-in area beyond the gate. “You could have a dog!”
Tracy nodded. “I guess I could,” she said as her face lit up, “as long as I find a vet that’s open at night,” she joked.
Inside Tracy’s studio apartment, Erin was bombarded by the sadness oozing from her friend. It matched the emptiness in her mother. She waited until they’d caught each other up on what happened since they’d last been together before mentioning it.
Erin sent a text message before embarking on the heavier conversation topic. “Why haven’t you gone to see your mom?”
Tracy shook her head. “I can’t,” she said with a deep exhale. “I’m not her daughter anymore. I’m not anybody. I’ve got no identity, Erin. The Mistress took that from me—”
“That’s not true,” she interjected. “You are still you. You’re not a sister.” The term still made Erin’s stomach turn. “No one can take away anything you refuse to let go of, and I know you don’t want to let go.” She reached across the small bistro table and took her hand. “The Tracy I know
is so brave. More than brave enough to step back into her life where people love her and have missed her so much.”
“I’m not brave,” she managed with trembling lips, wiping her eyes.
“Yes, you are. You’re so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. Tracy, you saved my life. Without you, I would have never made it as long as I did in there. Plus, you were brave enough to escape and find Lucía despite the risks. When you went to her, you didn’t even know whether she’d give you a chance to speak. No one is more responsible for having put an end to that maniac than you.”
Tracy shook her head. “I did what I had to do. Don’t make it sound like more than that.”
“You didn’t have to help me.” Erin squeezed her hand and forced her to look her in the eye. “And you know that.”
Silence sat with them for a while until Tracy spoke again. “Everyone thinks I’m dead, Erin. It’s not so easy. There’s nothing for me to go back to,” she said, finally replying to the initial question about not going to see her mother.
