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"What the fuck—" he started to say as I lifted him up, slamming him against the side of the building with one arm. His buddy turned to run but Iris muttered something and there was a flash of light in front of his eyes.
"Shit, I can't see, man!" he said, stumbling past me. I stuck my left foot out, looping the toe of my boot around his ankle and yanked. His feet slid out from under him and he hit the ground, hard.
"What the—" he started to say, but then Iris was on him and I'm not sure what she did, but he slumped to the ground. She hurried over to the girl, who was cowering against the opposite wall, clutching her blouse closed across her breasts.
I turned my attention to my captive and knocked his hat off so I could see his face. He struggled but there was no way in hell he could get away from me. A look of shock washed over his face when he realized that he was powerless, caught in the grip of a woman barely skimming five one, with glowing red eyes.
"What's your name, jerk wad?"
He struggled and I shoved him harder against the wall. "I asked you for your name, boy!"
"Okay, okay! Robert. I'm Robert. Jesus, what the crap are you on?" He squirmed but I gave a little squeeze to his windpipe and he immediately froze.
"Get this straight. Nothing about me is of any concern to you. The only thing that matters is what you were doing with that girl. Tell me, freak, what were you going to do to her? And don't say you were giving her a tour of the city. I'm in no mood for idiots." I flashed a sideways glance at Iris. She was comforting the girl.
He let out a strangled gulp and said, "None of your business, bitch."
"Ten, nine, eight…" I gave another squeeze, careful to avoid crushing his trachea. "You know, it's cold out, and I've had a bad day. Maybe you'd better talk faster."
"Jesus, let go! Let go!" He seemed to get the message that I held all the cards because he slumped in my grip. "Okay, okay! We were taking her to a party."
My boy was starting to turn blue. I eased up just a tad on his larynx.
"They were trying to rape me," the girl said, sniffling. She stepped out of the shadows and I could see that she was dressed in skintight jeans, a blouse, and a leather jacket over the top of that. Poor kid looked tired and cold. "They told me they'd take me to a party where I could get some sleep and something to eat, but instead, they brought me here…"
"Where did you meet them?" I asked her, while motioning to Iris. "Search him, would you?"
"At… at the bus station," the girl whispered. "I just got into town. I don't have any place to stay. I was trying to find a spot at the station where I could hide out and take a nap when these guys found me. They had a girl with them, and they all asked me if I wanted to go with them to a party. They said there would be food there and a place I could sleep. When we got outside, the girl disappeared and these guys… they brought me here."
An old story, even back in Otherworld. I pointed to a step leading into one of the businesses on the bottom floor of the Whitmore Building and said, "Sit down for a minute. You're safe for now."
Iris finished patting Robert down and held up a nasty-looking gun. I knew that iron didn't affect her but it would burn my hands. Not all of the Fae were affected by the metal, but some of us—even half-breeds—definitely held no love for it, cast iron, especially. I let go and watched as Robert tumbled to the ground.
"Stay put or you're dead," I said, taking the gun from Iris. My hand sparked on contact, but the fact that I was a vampire helped rather than hindered me. I couldn't feel the pain as the iron burned my skin. And ever since I'd made the transformation to vamp, I tended to heal from most wounds within minutes or hours. Too bad the wounds that Dredge had inflicted on me hadn't been able to heal up before I died, but he'd killed me too quickly afterward.
Pointing the gun at Robert, I said, "Nice, huh? You like to play with guns, do you?"
His eyes grew wide and I gave him a slow smile. Oh yes, this could be quite the fun little game. He scrambled away, pressing his back against the wall. "Don't shoot me, don't hurt me, lady! I'm sorry. Just let us go and—"
"Shut up and sit still." I opened the chamber and shook the bullets out into my hand. Then I put my hand around the long barrel of the gun and held it up where Robert could see nice and clear. Slowly I bent the barrel back on itself. "There, that's much better. Now this can go back to doing what iron does best—rusting.">"Not good news," she said. "You told Camille and Delilah yet?"
"No. I'm going to take off early. I need to fill them in before Chase finds any more victims. This isn't really our department—well, not theirs—but they should know. And I better call Wade and ask him to meet me out at the house. You want a ride home when I'm done?" I picked up the phone and started to punch in Wade's number.
Iris nodded. "Might as well." She looked around. "I was hoping… oh never mind," she added, her gaze glued to the house sprites in the corner booth who by now were so intoxicated that one of them had keeled over face-first on the table. He was going to have a nasty backache in the morning, considering he was kneeling on the seat of the booth.
I stared at her for a moment. "You were hoping to find a date, weren't you?" I smiled as she blushed and ducked her head.
"No—yes—I mean—"
Relenting, I reached out and patted her hand. "That's nothing to be embarrassed about. Why don't you go over and talk to that group of louts while I'm on the phone. Maybe sober, they'll wash up better than they look now." As I picked up the receiver, Iris took a deep breath and slid off her bar stool. She cautiously approached the group of sprites and I kept one eye on her to make sure she was okay while I waited for Wade to pick up.
Wade was the first vampire I met Earthside, and he ran the local V.A. group. Vampires Anonymous was a support group for vamps who were having trouble adjusting to life as one of the undead. It sounded silly in theory, but it helped to have a social life that didn't depend on cruising the blood bars and Supe clubs all night long. Breathers just didn't understand some of the dilemmas and problems we faced. Sometimes, we needed a safe place to vent.
When I'd joined, Wade enlisted me in his pet cause: turning vampires away from preying on innocents and teaching them how to feed without killing. At first, I wasn't sure what I thought about his idea, but the more I examined my own reactions, the better I liked it. Of course, the self-control went against our innate natures—there were certain urges that came with the life… or afterlife… that I hadn't ever confided to Delilah or Camille. But they could be corralled with the right amount of caution and care.
But I made it clear to Wade that I wasn't about to extend my newfound enthusiasm to the nutjobs of the world. Once somebody crossed the line between antisocial geek boy and active harmful sociopath, they forfeited their rights and became fair game. And, quite often, dinner.
When Wade answered the phone I ran down the situation and asked him to meet me at home in an hour. "I just have one request," I said, staring at the counter. "Please leave your mother at home."
