Update
To make up for my lack of writing yesterday, my brain helped me finish NaNoWriMo today. I still have a bit of writing left to the short, so I'm hoping that I finish it up tomorrow to get the final word count. If I can't, I still succeeded in writing a novel even while classes with many projects were ongoing, so I feel quite accomplished.
Current Word Count: 50,339
Scene of the Day
It didn’t take us long to get to Miss Lane, after that.
If she was bothered at all by her murder, she certainly
didn’t show it, sitting inside her apartment as she was.
That had surprised me, a bit, on top of the concern.
Most ghouls got knocked out flat as soon as the sun
touched the sky by them.
And most murderers who kill in public don’t sit in their
apartment, still wearing the clothes they’d killed in.
She was either really stupid, or more dangerous than I’d
assumed.
I felt her stare on me before I even got to the door,
the sensation drawing all the hairs on the nape of my neck to a full stand.
“Miz Lane, I’d like a moment of your time.”
The door flew open nearly before I’d finished the
statement, and she swung out for me.
She may have been able to get Coldwell before he even
knew what was happening, but she was moving at a crawl for me.
I easily slapped the grabbing arm away and stepped right
up to her.
The brunette vampiress let out a loud wheeze when my
knee slammed into her abdomen, sending her crashing to her floor.
“Yer definitely not the brightest leech I’ve run inta’.”
She glared up at me from where she laid limp, her eyes
gaining a scarlet glow.
“W-who are you?” she huffed.
“Name’s Morgana.”
With a nod to the watching Collin, I stepped further
inside and let my magic flow.
“So, I gotta’ know. How stupid does someone need ta’ be ta’ kill in a fekin’ neutral zone? Especially
a human?”
She snorted before pushing herself into a seated
position.
Normally, even ghouls would only be winded by what was,
admittedly, a pretty weak hit, for a few seconds.
That she was still sitting and catching her breath
suggested that she hadn’t fed enough outside of Coldwell.
That worked in my favor, and anything that worked in my
favor tended to make me suspicious.
“Is that something that happened?” she finally huffed
out.
“Jason Coldwell. ‘Parently, he an’ yer maker had a
fling. Now, ‘e’s dead, an’ ya’ just happened ta’ be there at the same
time. Not real bright. Shoulda’ got ‘im
in an alley.”
“I’ve been here, watchin’ TV, all day, Morgana.”
“Well, see, tha’s a nice theory an’ all, but Collin,
tha’s the Zodiac’s owner, ‘as cameras everywhere.
Cameras tha’ saw you.”
“Yeah,” she snorted back. “’Cause brunette ghouls in a
vampire party are so hard to come
by.”
With a puff of air, she pushed back to her feet and
looked like she was gearing up for another swing.
“’Afore ya’ take another stab at tastin’ yer carpet,
I’ll give ya’ a warnin’ now. Clearly, ya’ aren’t too high on energy right now,
an’ even if ya’ were, my magic could turn ya’ inta’ a stain on the wall. Think very carefully ‘bout yer next move.”
She canted her head to the side and took a loud sniff of
the air, her face scrunching as the scent of wilderness that surrounded me hit her.
“What the hell!? Oh, that is awful,” she hissed.
I leaned against the wall and smirked as she started
gagging.
It only got worse when I let some of my magic rise,
bringing with it the smell of damp woods.
“In case yer wonderin’, tha’s the smell a the Courts.
Ghouls really don’ deal well with it. Just ‘bout the closest thin’ fer you lot
ta’ bitin’ an iron cross.”
Her eyes were watering by that point, and I reined my
magic back in so she could breathe normally again.
And, more importantly, talk normally.
“If tha’s what the scent
a’ my magic does ta’ ya’, consider what getting’ hit by it would do.”
She paled at that.
“Le’s not play any more games, ‘ere, yeah? I’ve been in
Coldwell’s head. Ya’ killed ‘im. You know it, I know it, an’ the APD knows it. I’d
recommend lettin’ the person who ordered it ta’ get hit fer it.”
She sneered in response, her previous discomfort
changing to simmering anger.
“Like Jan’d go down over something that stupid.”
“Oh, I promise ya’, she will.”
“Lucas won’t let it happen!”
The name sent a chill of dread down my spine, the way it
always did, but I shoved it down and returned her sneer.
“Oh, please. He won’t give a shite. Yer all pawns in ‘is
little games. We all are, ‘ere. The
only thin’ he cares ‘bout is havin’ his fun with us, an’ the resta’ the world
can burn, fer all he cares.”
She turned bright red at that, her fangs snapping down
in anger.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about! He gave her a
damn house when she moved up. What would some wilderness-stinking witch know
about it, anyway?”
My smirk grew at that.
She clearly didn’t know the massive thread she’d just
given me, and I was perfectly fine not letting her know about it.
“I know a fair bit more ‘n you,” I scoffed. “Ya’ve been
on the scene fer five years, yeah? I been at this my whole life. I know more
about this city than a standup citizen turned vamp junkie could ever dream of knowin’.”
“You don’t know shit about Lucas, or Janet, or us,” she snarled.
The air began humming with her anger, the psychic
energies swirling like a serrated saw against my senses.
“Remember ‘bout twenty seconds ago when I said ya’ don’t
want ta’ come at me, Cassandra? Ya’ should prob’ly calm the hell down.”
She released a loud hiss, and then she dove at me.
Luckily, she was still just as hungry and slow as she’d
been when I’d first come inside.
I easily grabbed her wrist, and then I let my magic
loose.
She fell to her knees with a horrific shriek, and green
smoke started rising in large pillars from her skin.
As caught up in her pain as she was, she didn’t even
register me letting her arm fall limply at her side.
By the time it registered in her mind and she clutched
at the charred skin, I was already mid-pivot.
My foot connected with her side, and pain immediately
shot up my leg.
That was nothing, though, if the way she fell limply to
the floor, her mouth gaping open and eyes rolled back, was any indication.
Sighing, I rubbed at my ankle as I dug through
Cassandra’s pockets.
“Should I come back later?”
I spared a quick glare at Collin before reaching into
her last pocket.
It was actually a little surprising that I hadn’t been
unlucky enough to snap her phone, lodged in the side pocket of her hoodie as it
was.
Vampirism might’ve made her faster and stronger, but it
certainly hadn’t given her more intelligence.
There was no security of any kind on the phone, and her
entire log was filled with calls to a Miss Janet Dewitt.
A quick look revealed that Cassandra had every kind of
information possible filled out.
“Y’know, usually, when things go this easy fer me, it’s
because I’m walkin’ inta’ a trap,” I mused.
“I’ve noticed. So we have the killer. What’s next?”
“At least that part’s easy. I’m going to go have a chat
with Dewitt. See what I can get out of her. See if she has any kind of
insurance in place that would keep her ass alive. If she doesn’t, I’ll beat her
ass down, an’ make it clear that screwin’ with the Zodiac’s a bad idea. No way
he’ll want the kinda’ exposure savin’ her would bring, so it’ll come across as
just a vamp on ‘er own.”
“And if she does have something?”
“Then I get ta’ have something ta’ keep my ass alive after I beat ‘is lapdog.”
“Not the best plan there, Morg.”
It was touching, how worried he seemed, really.
Not that it would stop me from going at it.
With a heavy sigh, I pushed back to a full stand and
nudged Cassandra’s side.
She didn’t stir.
“Gonna’ call it in? She might raise the alarm if we just
leave her here.”
“Marshall’s prob’ly gonna’ be foamin’ at the mouth ta’
get ‘er,” I agreed. “But it looks like ‘er Mistress’s only two miles away.
Sirens blare, ‘an she’ll know we’re comin’.”
“Assuming this wasn’t all some trap and she knows
already,” Collin added.
“Yeah, thanks fer tha’. I think Cassie ‘ere’s jus’ a bit
stupid, though, so it might not be.”
That was the main hope as I left Collin behind, waiting
for Marshall and the tinted vamp containment van she sent the second I’d told
her about the unconscious ghoul.
He could more than handle her if she woke up in the
meantime, which meant I could focus solely on her maker.
The drive was even shorter than I’d expected, since
Janet lived in a straight line away from her ghoul.
I quickly found myself on a small, unassuming street
full of dull, grey one-stories.
The whole road was utterly underwhelming.
Which, I imagined, was by design, since they all looked
like the perfect residence for anyone looking to avoid attention.
One of the plain-looking structures had a beaten up grey
sedan in front of it.
I felt my entire body tightening in anticipation as I
made my way up the porch, my heart beating a faster tempo the closer I got.
Unlike her ghoul, the vampiress had a lot of psychic’s
ages-old aura permeated the air around her house.
When I came to a stop on the final step, I felt every
bit like I was in the maw of a literal lion’s den.
Taking a deep, centering breath, I made sure I was the
picture of calm before knocking.
The door slipped open easily, revealing a woman almost
half a foot taller than me.
She had platinum-blonde hair hanging down to her
mid-back, and it was bright enough to actually hurt my eyes with the sun’s
reflection.
Despite the incredibly toxic aura that was writhing
around her, she looked the picture of calm with a small smile on her face.
If not for that energy, and the way her dark, ocean blue
eyes took everything about me in with a calculating edge, I almost could’ve
believed the farce.
As it was, I got the impression that she was looking for
any reason to take me apart where I stood.
“Hello?” she asked, her voice wispy and surprisingly
quiet.
“Janet Dewitt?”
“Yes, that’s me. Can I help you?”
As she spoke, I caught a hint of fang, though she seemed
oblivious to the slip-up.
“I hope so. Do you know a Cassandra Lane?”
“I know Cassie. Is she in some kind of trouble?”
The way her expression hardened when asking the question
suggested she already knew the answer.
She did seem confused, though, as she obviously wondered
why only one person was coming to her.
“Do ya’ mind if I come in? I’ve a few questions about ‘er,
fer the APD.”
Her hands twisted into claws, but she smoothed them out
almost before I’d noticed it.
“Come on in,” she said.
Janet had no qualms about turning her back to me as she
moved back into her house, and after a second, I followed.
“What kind of questions do you have about her?”
“I need ta’ do some follow-up,” I remarked casually.
“Were you aware of the fact that Miss Lane was at a club called the Black
Zodiac last night?”
“Cassie’s a bit of a party animal,” she mused.
She pursed her lips in thought, then, and I felt her scenting the air.
“Are you by any chance a Faery?” she asked in wonder.
“A bit, yeah,” I responded without missing a beat.
I really hated
it when the creatures with better senses, such as Lycans or vampires like
Janet, did that.
It was incredibly creepy, knowing that they could
actually smell my blood.
Unlike ghouls, with their weaker constitutions
all-around, fully developed vampires tended to think of the Fae as delicious
snacks.
Or the smaller Fae, the ones who couldn’t make their
brains explode with essence, at any rate.
She quirked a smile as she stared at me like a meal, so
evidently, she thought I was in the former category.
“Interesting. You know, with all the Irish in
Massachusetts, there’s a shocking lack
of you guys here.”
Shrugging, I let myself slouch, hoping to play to that
underestimation.
It would make kicking her ass when things went south
much easier.
“This’s vamp country, Miss Dewitt. Not exactly the best
place to be for us, after the… disagreements… we had back home.”
Her expression darkened, and I had to fight not to
increase the amount of magic I was letting flow around me.
Tipping my hand while she was already on guard would be
a good way to get me dead.
“That’s all just old blood,” she scoffed.
I’ll admit, that got a surprised bark of laughter out of
me.
“Blood puns? Really?”
She smirked, relaxing even more.
“I’m not old enough to be above corny jokes. No need to
get defensive about it, Miss…?”
“Morgana.”
She hummed in thought, and I wondered if I’d just signed
a death warrant of some kind.
Not that I expected him
to go around telling everyone in his little crime family my name.
“A Fae named after an ancient witch. You’re parents had high hopes for you, huh,
Morgana?”
“Half-Fae, actually.”
“And you work for the APD? I’d gotten the impression
over the last few decades that they weren’t exactly the most… open… organization.”
I shrugged it off, hoping she couldn’t pick up on the
very minute increase in my heart rate.
It was true that, while I’d quit, there had definitely
been some bad sentiment among the force when I’d been outed as one of the
things they deal with.
It hadn’t made my decision any more difficult.
“They don’t need ta’ know, now, do they? I wouldn’ta’
told ya’, if ya’ hadn’t sniffed it out. Why I’m kinder’ glad we don’t have
anyone with really good noses on the force.”
She grinned, and I realized with a start that, while she
still looked like she wanted to devour me, it seemed much less murderous than
when I’d shown up at her door.
The realization dawned on her, as well, and she forced
herself to stand taller and seem more alert.
While she remained looking fully relaxed, the
preternaturally fast movements as she turned and walked further inside
suggested it was entirely false.
“You have a few questions about Cassie?” she suggested.
“Ah, yeah. Did ya’ know she murdered a man?”
Her pace faltered, and then she turned back to me.
I’ll give it to Janet, she was a pretty decent actress.
She looked completely surprised by the declaration, and
everything about her posture matched the reaction.
If I couldn’t hear the utter lack of surprise in her
aura, I might have almost thought I’d screwed up in thinking Cassandra hadn’t
done it on her own.
The simmering anger I heard, though, assured me I hadn’t
made any error.
“What!? Oh my god! There has to’ve been a mistake,” she
assured.
“We have ‘er in custody now. She let it slip tha’ she
did it fer someone else. Didn’t even realize she did it, but she didn’ let
anythin’ else out, anyway.”
The anger increased, and while it wouldn’t be noticed by
the average person, she looked as though she were readying herself to punch
something to my attuned senses.
“Ya’ wouldn’ happen ta’ know of anyone she’s
perticularly close ta’, would ya’? Other ‘n yerself, I mean.”
“Cassie’s like my little sister. I look after her, after
she got changed. It didn’t agree with her, for a long time. But I don’t keep
enough tabs on her to tell you who she hangs out with, though.”
“From what we’ve heard, that’d be a helluva screwed up
sisterly relationship ya’ got there,” I mused.
She frowned, and a light blush bloomed on her cheeks.
“Did I mention it didn’t agree with her? She needed
something to tether her. Look, if you’re judging-”
“Stow the fake outrage, Janet,” I interrupted. “Ya’
turned ‘er an’ then got ‘er hooked. Every maker seems ta’ have a bad habit fer
doin’ tha’, least in this city. I really don’ care. What I do care ‘bout is if
ya’ know of anyone who coulda’ ordered her to kill ‘im.”
“And we were having such a nice conversation, too. Why
do I get the impression you came here already knowing the answer, Morgana?”
“Well, here’s the thin’. Miss Lane’s part a the
Camarilla, an’ yer the vamp who made her.”
Her eyes widened, and I got the distinct impression that
I’d actually surprised her with that.
Most people in Arkham only whispered about them, so
having some seemingly docile Faery cop come and talk blatantly about it was
definitely unusual.
Too late, she tried feigning ignorance.
“What’s that? Some kind of movie troupe?”
I’d put her off-balance enough that she hadn’t already
killed me where I stood, or even tried to, and I pressed that advantage.
“Personally, I think yer all naïve toys yer master moves
ya’, makin’ plays that ya’d be better off avoidin’.”
Her lips pulled back to reveal fangs, and her body began
to vibrate with a growl.
“They’ve all got a very distinct tattoo markin’ ‘em as
property. She has one on ‘er neck. I’m guessin’ ya’ have one, somewhere, too.”
Her entire demeanor shifted, and I felt her narrowed
eyes grating against me.
“You’re not an ordinary cop, even for this city.”
“The APD knows a lot more’n ya’ think. But no, I’m not.
Hell, I’m not even a cop anymore, though bein’ more’n half Fae with deep roots
in this city made me stand out a bit back in the day.”
“That’d explain why you smell so good,” she sneered. “I
was wonderin’ why someone with diluted blood could smell like the Hunt.”
“Funny. Yer ghoul was lookin’ like she’d keel over from
tha’ smell alone, five minutes ago. She’s really
not very bright.”
She let out a snarl when I threw Cassie’s phone to her,
a blurry hand snatching it from the air.
“She really should
learn some security basics. Brought me right ta’ ya’.”
The phone unceremoniously snapped in her grip, plastic
bits falling to the carpet in a cloud.
“What did you do to her?”
“Oh, I was honest ‘bout the APD. They’ve prob’ly got ‘er
in custody, by now. Far sight better’n what’d happen if I let Lucas get ta’ her
first.”
Just saying the monster’s name out loud gave me the
creeps, as though just uttering the vowels held the magic to make him suddenly
appear from whatever blood-soaked shadows he crawled around in.
I was, apparently, not the only one.
The thought actually caused her to turn almost
transparently pale, though she didn’t seem to notice.
She quickly covered the terror that rushed through her
aura with more anger.
“Oh? You speak Lucas’s name so casually. Count yourself
lucky, Morgana. The Camarilla as a
whole would rend you to blood and bone dust for showing such disrespect.”
“Maybe,” I conceded with a carefree shrug. “But, see,
I’m not really interested in caterin’ ta’ anyone’s ego, an’ he’s several
centuries too old ta’ be treated with kid gloves. ‘Sides, you’re the only one
‘round, an’ I don’t think yer even high up enough ta’ tell him, Mistress er
not. You’re new ta’ the food chain, after all.”
The semi-calm between us vanished, and the air grew
utterly still as we both tensed.
A ring of dark, blood red expanded around her iris,
slowly creeping out until all but a slit of black remained.
And then, it kept going, turning the whole eye save for
that thin pupil almost black.
Her lips separated to reveal numerous fangs snapping
down with a snick.
“You’re cute, but I won’t stand for that much insolence,
Faery.”
I didn’t hesitate.
I jumped back several paces, knowing that no amount of
magic would help me if my throat was grabbed by a pissed off vampiress.
“So let’s be clear ‘bout this, ‘afore we go any further.
Did you order Coldwell’s death, or was it actually Lucas?”
“Even if I am the
one who did it, and even if I am Camarilla,
you’re the only one here with me, right now. Not exactly smart, to basically
ask me to kill you.”
“I’m much harder
to kill than Coldwell. An’, more importantly, if I disappeared, that would be…
unfortunate… fer yer crime family. Unless ya’ had somethin’ on ya’ ta’ keep
Lucas from outright killin’ ya’,” I added, hoping it came across as an
afterthought to her.
“Are you making threats,
now?” she scoffed.
“Oh, I don’ perticularly want trouble with ya’. I’m
actually kinder’ hopin’ ya’ do have
somethin’ on Lucas. I’m much happier ta’ make a deal than get my bones broken puttin’
ya’ down.”
“You come into my territory,
chat me up, then threaten me with putting me in those humans’ pathetic justice
system, and expect me to believe you didn’t come here looking for a fight?”
“Not the best plan,” I agreed. “In my defense, I had ta’
get ‘ere ‘afore ya’ heard ‘bout Cassie getting’ taken in, so I didn’t really
have too much time on my side.”
“That’s going to bite you in the ass.”
Her aura expanded, making the air nearly choking with
the toxic energy vampires naturally produced.
“Maybe. If I’m gonna’ get my arse kicked anyway, ya’
might as well tell me what the deal is. I mean, honestly, it’s a little petty
fer Lucas’s tastes. Now, I could see it, maybe, given that Coldwell runs with
those huntin’ bastards. If Coldwell threatened ya’-”
Her surprised peal of laughter cut me off, and I watched
in confusion as she actually doubled over.
She quickly recovered, though the amusement remained.
“Please. Jason was no hunter. He didn’t possess the will or self-confidence to even
attempt it, for real. He was just a wannabe,” she scoffed.
“Well, that’d explain how he got killed by a ghoul.”
“Even you’re more demure relatives could kill him,” she
laughed. “I didn’t have him killed because I was afraid of him. No, for as cute a toy as he was, I just couldn’t let
it stand that he thought he could use me to advance his stupid little
projects.”
“So ya’ knew from the start what he was? Why he went
after ya’?”
“He wasn’t smart enough to hide it. Still, he was quite
attractive, and made for some pleasurable amusement. But then, he had the gall
to reject me? His entertainment value
was outweighed by him spitting in my face, so to speak. I wouldn’t bother Lucas
with something this inane.”
“Well, that’s disappointin’,” I sighed.
“Is it, now?”
I started bouncing on the balls of my feet, letting the
tension work out of my muscles.
“I was hopin’ fer somethin’ I could use ta’ keep Lucas
off me, in case I need it. But you’re not confident he won’t kill ya’, yer just
short-sighted an’ stupid as hell.”
“You dare-”
“I really don’ want ta’ get on ‘is bad side, but here’s
the deal, Janet. Ya’ had someone killed in a dangerous place. Do you have any idea what you could’ve done?”
As I asked, I let my hands fall to my back.
To her, it would seem like I was pressing a knot out of
my back, maybe.
She wouldn’t be able to pick up on the gun nestled at my
back, with all the magic I was letting saturate the air.
I’d known it’d been a revenge killing, but I’d held onto
the hope that maybe Cassandra’s quip about him dumping her Mistress had actually been a euphemism for him trying
to attack her.
That it had been because he’d literally rejected her
advances wasn’t nearly as easy to overlook for all those involved.
Maybe, I thought, a few silver bullets would make her
regret her actions.
“Oh, do tell,”
she mocked.
“The Black Zodiac’s a neutral zone.”
I wasn’t able to keep the growl out of my voice, and she
tensed even more when she picked up on it.
“And?”
“And if people
just start killin’ others there, especially
while makin’ no attempts ta’ hide
them bein’ part of a gang, any gang,
that neutral zone gets compromised. If people can’t trust that they can safely
make negotiations, Arkham’ll start gettin’ flooded with blood,” I snarled.
“You know, I know you have a point here, somewhere, but I
can’t for the life of me figure it out,” she sighed, seeming to grow bored of
my open anger.
The gun being leveled on her caught her interest back in
an instant.
“Then I’ll explain it slowly, with small words. Ya’ get
pissed off ‘bout a human dumpin’ ya’, an’ then ya’ start a fekin’ war in Arkham, who da’ ya’ think’ll be
cleanin’ it up?”
Her eyes widened as the information started to connect
in her brain.
“Who da’ ya’ think would have ta’ clean up yer mess, so the rest a’ yer messed up
little crime family doesn’t get the damned Vatican rainin’ brimstone down on
us? Or, ferget them an’ Coldwell, how ‘bout the Fangs, who only keep the peace
thanks ta’ the Zodiac’s help? Hell, le’s expand it ta’ anyone who’s not lookin’
fer attention that’d get pissed off. C’mon, who
would be the one cleanin’ yer shite up?”
At that, she finally seemed to get my point.
Soul-chilling terror is the only description I can give
to the emotions ringing out around her, and she’d turned completely ashen.
“You’re wrong…”
“No, I’m not, an’ ya’ know it. Ya’ screw up an’ make the
Cam look bad, Lucas will come down
like the hammer a’ the gods on yer empty head.”
“H-He wouldn’t hurt me. He loves me.”
“Yeah, like the other four Mistresses, five Masters, an’
any attractive ghouls in the continental US,” I sneered.
Clearly, that had been the wrong thing to say.
With a loud snarl, she lunged.
I almost dodged it, to my credit.
Almost.
Her hand clamped down on my wrist as I was halfway
around her, the limb feeling like a band of frozen steel.
She immediately stopped her forward movement.
At the same time, her hips started twisting.
“Oh, shi-”
Gravity shifted harshly around me, as the vampire threw
me clear off the ground with a simple flick of her wrist.
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