Part 26 (1/2)

”Why not?” Sebastian asked.

”What's a dhampyr?” William added.

”Because,” I said, hoping to answer both questions at once, ”Matyas is a magical. He's got vampire blood running in his veins. The Order might be operating in conjunction with him, but they're totally playing him, Sebastian. Once they get what they want, he's dead.”

”The Vatican wouldn't waste a perfectly capable vampire hunter,” Sebastian said with a shrug.

”Especially considering he's the only one of his kind.”

”Why would they want a vampire hunter, Sebastian? They hunt Witches. And now they're going to use your formula to make an army of holy vampires. I'd think the last thing they want in their employ is someone capable of destroying them. Matyas is screwed.”

Sebastian took a sip of his drink and then made a face. I wasn't sure if his disgusted expression reflected his feelings toward the beverage or my comment. ”s.h.i.+t.” ”Yeah,” I agreed.

We were all silent for a moment, lost in our respective thoughts. I looked longingly at the coffee bar, wis.h.i.+ng that the barista hadn't already closed for the night. I'd kill for a strong cup of coffee. I had a feeling tonight was going to be a long one.

”Are you... you seem like you might be very old,” William said. Though it was phrased like an insult, William made it sound like a huge compliment.

”Very, very old,” Sebastian said with a nod, looking deeply into William's eyes. He'd thrown an arm over the back of the couch at some point, and his fingertips brushed the fabric of William's s.h.i.+rt. For his part, William seemed to lean into Sebastian's touch, like a lover.

”So, is it true what they say? The older the vampire, the stronger the kiss?”

”Oh, yes, definitely,” Sebastian said with a smile. And suddenly, when their eyes met, there was that intimacy again. Sebastian's hand now rested quite obviously on William's shoulder. His fingers splayed so one of them could stroke the line of William's neck.

”Wow,” William breathed.

”Yes.” Like a cat, Sebastian had crept closer to William, even though I swore I'd never taken my eyes off them. Their knees touched. He was totally coming on to my friend. Right in front of me. I knew Sebastian was hungry, but couldn't he wait until they were alone to try to score one on my buddy?

”h.e.l.lo? Break it up, boys,” I said. ”We still need to get Sebastian's grimoire.”

William blinked as if shaking off a spell. ”Oh, right. Uh, follow me. I know the bar the Goth guy was talking about. It's not far at all.”

Since State Street is a pedestrian mall and only buses are allowed to drive it, we decided to walk.

People-tourists and students mostly, by the look of them-crowded the sidewalk. We actually had to shoulder our way through bodies cl.u.s.tered near entrances to various establishments.

Strangely, a glance one block in either direction showed only empty sidewalks. Apparently people came to Madison to see State Street and nothing else.

I scanned the pa.s.sing faces for Parrish. I'd given the boys a verbal description of Parrish's vitals, but they both looked baffled at the concept of a Leo's mane, so I didn't have much hope that they'd be able to identify him.

When I had a chance, I grabbed Sebastian's elbow to pull him close. ”Back in the coffee shop, what were you playing at?”

Sebastian's pupils had expanded in the darkness. Only a sliver of brown remained. He looked high.

”What do you mean?”

I jerked my chin in the direction of William, whose shock of black hair dodged around a gaggle of UWjocks and through a pride of bar floozies. He was only a pace or so in front of us. I kept my voice low as I said, ”With William. All the touching.” Sebastian gave me a blank look, so I added, ”All the lingering gazes. I thought I was going to have to throw cold water on both of you.”

”Jealous?”

”As a matter of fact, yeah.”

”Don't be,” he said. ”I'm so hungry anything looks good.”

That was kind of a dis of William, so I gave Sebastian a disapproving frown. ”You had Matyas less than an hour ago.”

”Yes, but I didn't take nearly as much as I wanted, and most of that went toward healing the sun damage from this morning.” His gaze followed the floozies as they pa.s.sed, lingering on exposed and ample a.s.sets. ”That wasn't nearly enough.”

Now he not only looked like a junkie, he talked like one, too. Just in the past couple of hours, Sebastian had started to look gaunt, a little too skinny to be s.e.xy, particularly around his cheeks, like his skin was stretched tight over bone. In fact, the wordcadaverous sprang to mind. I wondered how long it would be before his thirst became unquenchable and he died.

We came abreast of William when we gathered at a corner, waiting for the traffic light to change. A silver Ford Taurus came within a foot of us, and I recognized the driver at the same instant she recognized me. It was Rosa.

Brake lights flashed. I grabbed Sebastian's hand, and then nearly dropped it. His skin had already become icy cold.

”Run,” I shouted to William, who still stood on the corner, while trying to drag an uncooperative vampire into oncoming traffic. ”Vatican.”

A couple of stoner college types we'd been standing next to gave me a wide-eyed stare at the last part of my warning, but everyone started screaming when Rosa stepped out of her vehicle and aimed a .45 in our general direction.

And William coldc.o.c.ked her.

There was a crunch of bone, which could have been his knuckles, but the effect was the same: Rosa went from shocked to unconscious. William looked at his fist like he'd never seen it before.

Sebastian and I ran back over and pushed our way through the growing crowd of curious onlookers.

Rosa's nose had caved in. Blood covered her face and a large portion of her power suit.

”I think I broke my knuckles,” William said quietly, as if to himself.

Sebastian reached down to relieve Rosa of her gun. I noticed him pause at the sight of all that fresh blood. His hand hovered over her wet cheek, and I thought for a moment he might dip his finger for a taste. He stopped himself and pocketed the gun instead. Rosa moaned.

I looked through the crowd for someone with a cell phone. I spotted a geek boy with a utility beltcontaining both a cell and a BlackBerry and G.o.ddess knew what all else. ”You,” I said, ”Call 911.”

Then I clasped hands with William and Sebastian and dragged them away from Rosa's body.

We ducked into the first bar that we came to. I ensconced the boys at a dark corner table and flagged down a harried-looking waiter. The waiter gave us a long, disapproving look. I could only imagine what he thought of us: two Goths and a pale guy. We must have seemed like a matching set, all in black. ”I'm starving,” Sebastian muttered.

”Honey, I doubt we have what you're looking for,” the waiter said.

”Oh?” I asked, after exchanging glances with William. ”What do you think we're looking for?”

”Two doors down,” he said, with a sardonically arched eyebrow. When we didn't get whatever hint he tossed us, he put a fist on his narrow hip. ”Look around, darlings, this is a sports bar. You'll like the atmosphere at the Cavern much better.”

The Cavern? That sounded cheesy. Sadly, I could totally see Parrish hanging out at a place like that.