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15
Arumble camefrom behind me, and I whirled, Fezzik pointing at the hidden door before itopened.
“Oh dear,” the male figure standing in the tunnel said, eyeing the barrel. “Are you here to rob me? Do I need to raise my hands? What’s the protocolhere?”
He was strikingly handsome if also strikingly pale, with black hair pulled back in a bun and a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee. He shifted from eyeing my gun to eyeing my neck—maybe I should have borrowed Dimitri’s cervical collar—but his gaze didn’t linger long. He met my eyes, his brows rising ininquiry.
“I brought you some brochures,” Isaid.
“Really? I so rarely get old-fashioned mail anymore. It all comes from the interwebs. Would you like to see my laboratory? You’re not one of my fan-girls, are you? They’re usually younger. An astonishing number of teenage girls are interested in making potions and aren’t put off by my fangs.” He flashed thosefangs.
I tried not to take his interest in teenage girls as creepy. It washard.
“I’ll take a tour if you’re offering.” Fourteen minutes until Sindari came looking for me. I didn’t trust Mr. Sexy with his Hungarianaccent.
“Certainly. This way, please.” Zoltan bowed and extended an arm toward the tunnel. “Pardon the dust. You came in the back way. This used to be a meat locker.” He glanced up at the bars and made a hook motion with his finger. “Naturally, I have no use for a meatlocker.”
“Just a refrigerator for yourblood?”
“Chilled blood? What a dreadful thought. I can’t imagine the vampire who would accept such an off-putting thing. The nutrients are most superior, the flavors most nuanced, when the blood is warm and straight from thevein.”
“Uh huh. Do you drinkwine?”
“Certainlynot.”
“Guess that answers that.” I pointed the gun down the tunnel. “You go first,friend.”
“Ah, yes, the robbery. I forgot. Will you need me to show you to my valuables? I didn’t bring that many with me when I left Europe. It was a tumultuous time back then.” He led me through unlit tunnels, and I was glad for my night-visioncharm.
“I’m not robbing you. I’m hoping you can answer a couple of questions. I’ll pay. Also, the brochures are from Nin Chattrakulrak in Seattle.” Sadly, my pronunciation of her last name was even more execrable than my pronunciation of her signature dish. “She makes magical weapons and is branching out into armor and thought you might be interested. Or maybe she thought you’d mention her shop to the teenage girls. I’m not quitesure.”
“Armor? Interesting. I do have various security systems around the premises, which you’ll discover if you shoot me and attempt to take my wealth, but I rarely feel the need to secure my person. Usually, I find that my superior strength serves sufficiently in confrontations.” He looked over his shoulder as he swung open a door and entered a surprisingly well-lit room. “Unless I’m facing someone with a gun full of magical ammunition. Here we are. Welcome to mylaboratory.”
Laboratoryandvideo studio, I decided as I stepped inside, eyeing a three-monitor computer, mic, and sound-engineering setup that any internet video star would admire. The bright red lights appeared to be infrared rather than LED or fluorescent. Maybe infrared was safe for sensitive vampireflesh.
The red light gleamed off a huge metal barn door on the wall to the right of us. Was that where he kept his coffin? If so, it was a touchgrandiose.
Opposite the computer setup were counters full of condensers, test tubes, flasks, and lots of other chemistry equipment I couldn’t name. Was that a centrifuge? When Nin had said Zoltan was a vampire alchemist, I’d been imagining bags of herbs and mortars and pestles. The lab rats in cages lining one wall were closer to what I’d envisioned. I decided not to ask if they were for experiments ordinner.
As I walked deeper into the lab, I stepped on a floor tile that was identical to the others but that shifted underfoot, depressing a half an inch. A fluke of an old floor? No, Zoltan turned, leaned his hip against a counter, and smiled atme.
The big metal door ground as it shifted along its slider to reveal a dark room. A dark room with two glowing red eyes inside. A sweet earthy smell wafted out, as something made a skitteringsound.
“Food, Luca!” Zoltan clapped hishands.
A tarantula as tall as I was and much wider hustled out and sped straight toward me. I fired four times before it got close, the bullets sinking into its brown furred torso, and it didn’t slow down. It was probably hopped up on some alchemypotion.
Swearing, I jumped back into the tunnel, a tunnel that was large enough for the tarantula to fit into. At least it couldn’t get at mysides.
I fired twice more as it chased me back into the passageway. A thick green ichor that did not look natural oozed out of the six wounds. This time, the great tarantula let out a loud, angry hiss, but it keptcoming.
As I retreated, my heel bumped against something that hadn’t been there before. A wall. Damn it, I’d walked into atrap.
The tarantula raised its forelegs high and opened a huge mouth, fangs dripping saliva. And venom, I realized, the sickly-sweet scent of its breath washing overme.
I fired one more time, then yanked out Chopper. The fanged mouth darted toward me. I whipped my blade across, cutting off one of thosefangs.
Something hot spattered my arm and face. The torso reared up, and I shifted my grip, jamming my longsword up under its jaws before it could bring its fangs close again. A normal weapon might not have pierced the exoskeleton, but my magical blade crunched deep. The tarantula hissed again, battering myeardrums.
