Page 1 of The Vampire Kingpin
1
Spider
I followed Velma into an abandoned subway tunnel, the air heavy with damp earth and decay. We were deep in the Underworld beneath Manhattan. Water trickled down the grimy tile walls, and mold bloomed in reckless patterns on the crumbling concrete.
Velma halted, her shiny black braid stilling along with her. My best friend and lieutenant, she was like a blood hound when she scented prey.
“He’s here,” she said out of the corner of her mouth. Then, louder: “Grimclaw.”
The other vampire, a sallow creature in a green leisure suit, twitched. Hands buried in his pockets, he was trying hard to appear chill, but the stiffness in his shoulders betrayed him. He turned, too fast, eyes sharp despite the washed-out skin.
I jammed a kerosene torch beneath a rusted steel rail and stood back. As my lieutenant, Velma took point on enforcement.
Her hands settled on the silver daggers strapped over her short red skirt. “We’re here for the cash,” she told Grimclaw.
He didn’t reply, his gaze locking onto me instead. Wrong move. Ignoring Velma was the fastest way to get blood on your boots.
“Sorry, bro.” He lifted his hands in mock surrender. “I’m tapped out. Next month, you’ll get double. That’s a promise.”
Velma bristled. “That’s not acceptable,” and the word acceptable landed like a blade.
Grimclaw scowled at her from beneath a nest of dark hair. “You can’t get blood from a stone.”
She snorted. “But you’re not a stone, are you?” She gave his crotch a pointed look. “You’re much…softer.”
I chuckled.
Grimclaw’s jaw dropped. “Bitch.” He puffed up his chest, fangs pricking between pale red lips. “Who d’you think you are?”
My chest rumbled. Even in the Underworld, we vampires had a pecking order, and I was the kingpin, the apex predator in this realm of misfits and outlaws, with Velma my beta. This wannabe alpha of a measly crew needed to remember that.
Grimclaw’s throat worked. “Sorry, bro. But?—”
“I’m not your ‘bro,’” I snapped.
“Of course, my lord. I didn’t mean anyth?—”
Velma yanked her daggers free, the silver a lethal glint in the flickering shadows. “You live down here, you pay Spider tribute. Otherwise, leave. See how long you last.”
Grimclaw’s gaze darted around the tunnel like a trapped rodent. He knew damn well that anywhere else, his lair would be fighting tooth and nail to survive. I might be a cold-blooded bastard, but I kept my corner of New York peaceful.
He licked his lips. “I don’t have the money, but I can get it. I just need a little time. Please, my lord.”
“That’s what you said last week.”
“I know, but?—”
I sighed, bored. “Stake him.”
“What?” Grimclaw’s eyes bugged. Guess he’d figured he could keep jerking me around forever. “The hell you—” He dropped into a crouch and whipped out a switchblade.
Velma swatted it from his hand, sending it spinning into the darkness. Grimclaw froze, jaw slack. She was fast, even for a supernatural.
A subtle shift in the air behind us made me spin around. Two members of Grimclaw’s lair were creeping along the subway tracks, blades out.
I let my eyes flash with the blue of my vampire. “Try it,” I gritted, “and you’ll meet the Dark Goddess along with your alpha.”
They halted mid-step, throats working.
