Part 38 (2/2)
The blond brother with the beast? ”When did she see the blond last?”
A tumble of sounds came out.
”What was that? I couldn't hear you.”
The male struggled to speak, but suddenly his body seized up and his mouth gaped as if he were suffocating.
”Oh, come on,” O muttered. ”It doesn't hurt that badly.”
s.h.i.+t, this vise action was just kindergarten stuff; they weren't even close to anything lethal yet. Still, ten minutes later the vampire was dead, and O was standing over the body wondering what the h.e.l.l had happened.
The door to the persuasion center opened and U strode in. ”How we doing tonight?”
”This civilian kicked it, but d.a.m.ned if I know why. I was just getting started.”
O disengaged the vise from the vampire's hand and tossed the thing where the other tools were. As he stared at the lifeless bag of skin on the table, he found himself suddenly, shockingly queasy.
”If you broke a bone, maybe he threw a clot.”
”What... huh? Oh, yeah. But wait, from just his finger? A thigh bone, I could believe, but I was working his hand.”
”Doesn't matter. One can get sprung from anywhere. If it works its way to the lungs and gets lodged? Game over.”
”He was gasping for breath.”
”Probably what happened.”
”Bad timing, too. His sister is f.u.c.king the brothers, but I didn't get much out of him.”
”Home address?”
”No. The idiot had his wallet stolen right before I found him. He was drunk and got mugged in an alley. He did name some places, though. The usual clubs downtown, but also that hick bar, One Eye.”
U frowned as he took out his gun and checked the chamber. ”You sure he wasn't just talking to get you to stop? One Eye's not far from here, and those b.a.s.t.a.r.d brothers are city dwellers, aren't they? I mean, that's where we find them.”
”That's where they let us find them. G.o.d only knows where they live.” O shook his head at the body. ”d.a.m.n it, he said something right before he died. I didn't understand the words.”
”That language of theirs is a b.i.t.c.h. Wish we had a translator.”
”No kidding.”
U looked around. ”So how's the place working for you?”
Whatever, O thought.
”Perfect,” he said. ”I had him in one of the holes for a while, waiting for him to come around. The halter system works just fine.” O flipped the vampire's arm up onto its chest and tapped the stainless-steel slab the body was on. ”And this table is a G.o.dsend. The drain holes, the restraints.”
”Yeah, I thought you'd like that. Stole it from a morgue.””Nice.”
U walked over to the fireproof closet they used to store ammunition. ”Mind if I take a few rounds?”
”That's what they're there for.”
U took out a palm-sized cardboard box marked Remington. As he refilled his clips, he said, ”So I heard that Mr. X put you in charge of this place.”
”He gave me the key, yeah.”
”Good. It'll be run right.”
Of course, there had been a condition to the privilege. Mr. X had required that O move in, but the relocation did make some sense. If they were going to be keeping vampires over a period of days, someone had to monitor the captives.
O propped his hip against the table. ”Mr. X is going to announce a new orientation of the Primes. Within each squadron we'll be pairing up, and I get to pick first. I want you.”
U smiled as he closed the box of bullets. ”I was a trapper up in Canada, did you know that? Back in the eighteen twenties. I like being in the field. Catching things.”
O nodded, thinking that before he'd lost his drive, he and U would have made a h.e.l.l of a pair.
”So is it true about you and X?” U asked.
”Is what true?”
”That you met with the Omega recently?” When O's eyes flickered at the name, U caught the reaction and, thank G.o.d, misread it.
”Holy s.h.i.+t, you did see him. Are you going to be X's second in command? Is that where all this is leading?”
O swallowed in spite of the nauseating whirl in his gut. ”You'll have to ask sensei.”
”Yeah, sure. I'm really gonna do that. Don't know why you have to keep it a secret, though.”
As O didn't know any more than the other lesser did, he had no choice.
Jesus. A little while ago, the idea of being second Fore-lesser would have elated him.
U headed for the door. ”So when and where do you want me?”
”Here. Now.”
”What do you have in mind?”
”We're going back downtown. I wanted to call the others in for a lesson tonight, but I seem to have lost my textbook.”
U inclined his head. ”Let's head for the library, then. And get us another.”
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