"Yeah, I missed you too," I said.
He waved his goons off me.
They went about their business.
Adrian said, "Are you here to get yourself killed, or are you finally going to admit this is my city?"
I grabbed a chair and took a seat, putting my feet on the table. "You couldn't handle running the city if I gave it to you on a bed of roses. The older vamps would continue ignoring you, and without the Old Ones approval, no master of the city can do his job."
I wasn't pure demon, not a demon at all, but the demons followed me. They feared me. That had been enough to bring the Old Ones over to my side as well, that and Gloria's support.
I continued, "Not only that, but all the big bads I keep out would swarm in for a piece of the pie. Take this new succubus that I'm planning to kill…"
His eyes brightened with interest. Vampires love gossip on other vamps, even those of a different species. "There's a succubus in town? I hadn't heard."
"No contacts in the street. Another reason you can't do my job. Face it; you're good for all-nighters, but being the master of a city means being available all the time. Trust me, it's a headache."
Adrian twitched a finger toward the door. Most of the vampires left in a blur of movement, but not the hot number draping herself all over him, and not the whores spread out over blood puddles on the table top. "You still have a gift for annoying me." Adrian's eyebrow shot up. A small amount of red glazed his pale blue eyes. His eyes-of-flame trick was nothing compared to Gloria's. "What do you want, Caine?"
"The succubus. She has taken two humans who were under my protection. To save face, I must be the one who gets them back. The succubus is my prey. I want to be sure you know this. Don't side with her, don't get in my way. I know all you vamps like to stick together."
"Do not compare that creature to our kind," the lady vamp attached to his hip glared at me.
I think she felt threatened by those of us sexually superior to herself, namely the succubus and me. I hate being immodest, but I am an urban legend for many reasons. I met her vamp stare easily. My protective magic prevented her from rolling my mind like a drunken sailor.
I shrugged. "Well, you suck blood and she sucks life force. You both use sex as a weapon of male destruction, and … oh yeah, you're both bottom feeders going after the weak. Did I get any of that wrong?"
The vampire girl blurred. She had a lot of speed on me, but my tats were faster. My shield turned itself on, and she was thrown back, her lovely vamp nose broken. I got up and activated the tats on my legs that let me match vamp speed temporarily, a gift I'd pay for in an hour. As she surged back to her feet, I caught her by the throat and lifted her off the carpet. She grabbed my arm, straining to snap it.
"You want this in one piece?" I asked Adrian.
He shrugged. "Getting a little tired of her actually."
I snapped her neck and dropped her body. She'd wake up when her neck healed, hopefully with a great deal more restraint.
I strolled for the door. I was almost there when Adrian spoke up, "How's she doing?"
"The bitch on the floor?"
"No. Gloria."
"Your mom's just fine, but you should call her. I'm sure she worries about her stupid son."
I stepped out of the room. The two vamp goons that had escorted me in were at the edge of the dance floor, telling Angie she couldn't take her drink onto the dance floor. They were having difficulty getting this across because she was so drunk. They didn't seem to mind explaining this to her slowly, while staring at her boobs. Finally she got it, throwing back her drink and handing them an empty glass.
By this time, Angie was swaying on her feet.
"You don't look so good," Goon One said. "Why don't we show you a place where you can lie down for awhile?"
Goon Two took her arm, smiling, oozing vamp seduction. "Come this way."
I reached them as they turned my way. "It's late, Angie.
Let's go. You can be a blood donor some other time."
"Night's young," Goon One said.
"Party's just getting started." Goon Two gave me a look meant to back me down. They had a drunken wolf and knew it. Shape-shifter blood has a kick human blood lacks. They wanted a pint or two.
I smiled and shot them a look of world-weary innocence. "C'mon guys, don't make me kill you."
They bared fangs at me.
I pointed down at my right foot.
They stared down at my steel-toed boot.
The magic I'd used to enhance my speed was still running. I swung my foot, a hook kick across their faces. Broken teeth fell to the carpet as they reeled back and were swallowed by the dancers. I picked up the teeth to add to my collection. I pushed Angie toward the door as a fight erupted behind us. Apparently, the vamps had been overly rough trying to escape the crowd and had given offense. By the time I got to the door, a full blown brawl was underway. Somehow, I knew Adrian would blame this on me.
We got outside and crossed the street to the car. Already, Angie's werewolf metabolism was neutralizing the alcohol, taking the stagger out of her walk. I just hoped she wouldn't puke in my car.
"Hey, Caine?"
"Yeah?"
"Did the vamps agree to help you out?"
"I didn't ask them. I made it very clear they were not to get involved, that the succubus is my prey, a matter of honor."
She looked at me over the top of the car as I went around to the driver's door. "So, they'll do what you want them to in order to spite you, and they'll think it's their idea."
"Yeah. I love being me."
We got in and drove off. Half a block from the club, police had taped off a section of street where a car had wrapped itself around a streetlight. EMTs had responded, but there was no hope. The passengers were all crispy critters. Up on the side walk, the twelve pack of Mexican beer had been thrown clear and had miraculously survived. The beer was being taken into custody as material evidence, but doubted I would reach the evidence locker at the station.
Seeing the crash made me happy. I turned on the radio as we continued on. Angie did a sort of dance with her upper body in the seat next to me. It was fun watching her large breasts bounce as she clapped, and tried to sing along to the songs.
"I'll drop you off at William's place. You can explain to him how you got in this state." I said.
"No, I wanna go to your place."
"Why?"
"I'm your liaison to the wolves. You're stuck with me until this whole mess is over. And William might yell at me."
I took the ramp onto the highway. "Aren't you afraid I'll take advantage of you?"
"I'm a wolf," she said. "I can't even spell fear."
"That doesn't surprise me, but I'd rather not have you underfoot." At my house where you can pry into my secrets.
She stuck her head out the open window, enjoying the wind stream, smiling and waving at the traffic in the slow lane. As we went along, more of her scooted out the window, and she started lifting her shirt, flashing her boobs. One driver gave her a thumbs-up. Another honked encouragement. After a while, she just left the shirt up, and let her tongue wag in the wind. If I had a dog, this experience would have been much the same.
"Oh, hell, at least you're a happy drunk."
We reached my house as the sun began to gray the eastern sky. I pulled into my garage and parked. The garage door lowered, and multiple locks automatically activated. I led Angie to the kitchen door entrance. In the kitchen, she peered at every little thing, following me from room to room. Going through the living room, I pointed at the couch. "You can curl up there if you'd rather not share my bed." Why a hot chick wouldn't want to share my bed, I didn't know, but I offered her the choice, gentleman that I am, not bothering to mention I had empty bedrooms available.
She stopped to stare at the couch as if she'd never seen one before. I kept going. In my office, I went to the bar and hit a button on the master remote I'd left there. All the windows went dark. The curtains closed. The room lights dimmed to a soft yellow glow. A whirl of black fog condensed into a feline shape. I heard soft paws and hard nails approach as I made myself a pitcher of drinks.
"Hey Leona, Old Man's done with you?" I asked.
"For now. He's going to be with Hiro during the day," she said.
With Leona a step behind, I carried my pitcher back out to the living room. I'd intended going straight to my room, but seeing each other, Leona and Angie went rigid. There was tension in the air like a storm about to break. The scene was made ridiculous by the fact that Angie still had her shirt rolled up.
"Some kind of problem here?" I asked.
Leona's tail lashed. "You didn't tell me you'd brought a slut home with you."
"Hey," Angie's eyes were bright wolf-yellow, "I'm a bitch, not a slut."
I smiled at Leona. "We're going to have a house guest for a few days. Try not to kill her. It would touch upon my honor."
Leona sat on her haunches, studying Angie's boobs. "Are those even real?"
Angie took them in hand and gave them a little flounce. "Hell, yes. What, jealous?"
I walked to my room, set the pitcher on the nightstand, and went to the closet. My guns and swords went inside along with my long coat. My image was caught on the far side of the bed by a giant mirror on the wall. I changed into my black silk PJs. Once I was done, I lay on my bed and stared up at the plasma screen TV attached to the ceiling. Remote in hand, I began to surf channels, keeping one ear open for savage animal screams and the sound of breaking furniture.
Such sounds never came. That was far more ominous.
In the back of my mind, a clock had been running since I used my tat for vampire speed. I knew when an exact hour had passed because the bill came due with a vengeance, without any adrenaline in my system to take off the edge. Every muscle in both legs locked with severe cramps. I cursed, slid to the side, and fell out of bed trying to get weight on my legs to ease the pain. It didn't ease. It piled on, spiking to higher levels as I screamed for help.
Angie and Leona appeared in my doorway, staring down at my writhing with looks of polite interest on their faces.
"Get me up! Get me up!" I yell.
"What a perv," Leona stalked off.
Angie went after her.
Bitches. If I could have walked, I'd have gone for my gun.