Page 17 of You Can't Fight Lightning
Oh, shit. That came out without me even thinking. What in the name of Hades was going on here? With me? With everything? Since when did I just blurt out my thoughts?
The woman stared at me, her eyes getting bigger, and her lips thinning. Then, apparently losing some battle, she burst out laughing. She leaned against the wall, she was laughing so hard.
The pale shadow I’d seen before materialized again. I stared hard. It was a woman. But not… human. I stared, ignoring the laughing woman next to me.
The pale woman was a vampire.
The woman in front of me was a witch, mixed with something else.
“Pal, if you can’t figure that out, I can’t help you.” The woman wiped tears from her eyes, snickering again. “What are you, that you look like that and can’t get your shit together?” She looked me up and down, her gaze appraising.
This was a mistake. I wanted to get back to my hotel as soon as possible. I didn’t care to feel this uncomfortable. “It never used to be this hard. Sorry to disturb.” I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jacket and made to leave.
I was stopped by a hand on my arm.
No one touched me without being invited.
“What are you?” There was no trace of the laughter of just seconds ago.
“Still in a good mood, as long as you let go of my arm.” I stared down at her hand.
“No can do, big man. I pay attention when folks of a certain persuasion drift in. And I’m not alone.” Her eyes didn’t move from mine.
“Yes, I’ve seen the vampire. That will be of no use against me.”
“All right, pal. You’re coming in and telling me why you’re in Bisbee.”
“What are you, the mayor?”
“Hardly.” Her eyes rolled dramatically, as though she didn’t care whether I saw it. “But me, the vampire, some other witches and the wolves, we all get along fine. We don’t need you coming in and upsetting the balance.”
“I’m not upsetting anything—”
“I don’t buy that for a minute. Come inside. And please don’t make me make you.”
It was my turn to laugh. “You can’t, little one. But I’m bored, so I’ll come along and play your game.”
I followed the woman into the office with the neon sign. I heard her muttering, and something like “dickhead” was clear, although nothing else was.
“Can we make this quick? I’ve dinner to attend to.”
“Get the stick out of your butt and sit down.” She sat in a creaky green chair behind a desk, resting her crossed feet on the edge and pointing at two ugly brown chairs in front of the desk.
“I can humor you.” I sat.
“Who are you and why are you here?”
“Tell me who you are, first.”
“My name is Delilah Knight. I’m part of the Nightingales of Deadwood, and the blonde you saw was my friend Tuesday.”
“Very little of what you said means anything to me. What are the Nightingales of Deadwood? And why does a vampire live with you?” Now that I was inside, I could smell the vampire. A cool, dry smell. Crisp.
I didn’t have much to do with them. They tended to be extremely violent, and not very discreet. Well, at least that’s what I remembered of my few interactions with them.
They were more in Hades’ lane.
“The Nightingales are witches. They protect Deadwood.”
