Page 24 of Blood and Bonbons

“A million at least,” Vena said dryly as she tucked the scrotum into its bag.

I groaned and rubbed both hands down my face. My fingers brushed over the bandage still on my cheek.

“And why don’t you ever listen? There’s a vampire out there who, according to Miles, will track me down and kill me because I recently bled on him,andhe’s missing his ring. The person who could help us–Miles again–is missing. We’re over our heads, Vena.”

She strode across the room and wrapped me in a hug.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Ev. I promise.”

“That’s a dumb promise. Too much has already happened. Promise me instead that, no matter what happens to me, you’ll show up at Blur tomorrow, fill out whatever paperwork Shepard needs, and start working a job that won’t lead to your disappearance, too.”

“I promise. But the vampire and Miles are our priority. Agreed?”

“Of course I agree. What kind of trap do we need to set for the vampire? And what do we do with him once he’s trapped? Is there a service we can call? A relocation program, maybe?” I asked hopefully.

Vena pulled back and gave me a flat stare. “He’s not a flock of geese shitting all over a park. He’s a vampire. Relocating him won’t fix our problem. We need to kill him.”

I made a face.

“I don’t want to be a murderer.”

She released me with an arm pat. “Don’t worry. Miles found the answer we need, and it’s not direct murder.”

She went to the table and plucked a piece of paper from the pile she’d been shuffling. It looked like a handwritten list. Before I could read it, she folded the paper and tucked it into her pocket.

“I’ll take care of the trap. Now, I know you don’t like the idea of going to the market, but given the circumstances, I think it would be better if we stick together.”

The thought of investigating further made me nervous, so I distracted myself with lecturing Vena.

“A telemarketer. A pet food taster. Hell, even a portable toilet custodian. All of those jobs would have been better than a Shadow Trade treasure hunter.”

“Everything is going to be fine, Ev. You’ll see. We’ll get Spawn to tell us what information Miles was trying to sell, and once that scrotum softens and relaxes enough to handle, we’ll know even more. Miles will be home in no time, and that vampire will be dust once the sun sets.”

“Where was this optimism during our job fair in high school?” I grumbled as I followed her out the door.

The fairy from earlier dove for the brush when we emerged as if it had been hovering outside the entrance. I shuddered, glad it hadn’t flown toward me again, and hurried after Vena.

We ditched my car at a grocery store between Miles’ place and the market so we could drive together since parking near the market tended to be a problem. With Vena’s black crossover nearing the end of its lease, she didn’t typically drive it more than necessary. However, parking my aging fuel-efficient compact for an extended time in this area was safer than parking hers.

In all honesty, I would have preferred we not go at all. While I was well aware of the darker dealings that went on at the market, to the general public, the market was a place to shop for trendy novelty items. People paid good money for elixirs to enhance their skin’s glow, increase stamina, ward off bad luck, and whatnot. That the effects were fleeting at best ensured return business.

“Miles had crossed out most of the ideas written on those research papers regarding getting rid of a vampire,” I said. “He’d noted a few with question marks, but I didn’t see anything he’d seemed sure of.”

“Yeah, he spent a lot of time digging from the way it’d looked. We’ll owe him one when we find him.”

“You’re assuming whatever paper you grabbed will work,” I said, pressing my point.

“Ev, if it were that hard to dust a vampire, the world would be crawling with them. The fact that it’s not means this bloodsucker won’t be a problem.”

“It’s because most people don’t survive the transition,” I said.

“They live forever, Ev. That any of them survive means their numbers would be growing…unless they could be killed. Stakes to the heart isn’t a myth. It works. But this spell will be a less messy option than a stake.”

I snorted. “You say that like you’re some kind of hardened killer. You see a snake and run, Vena.”

“It’s called a ‘nope rope’ for a reason.”

“Okay, yeah, let’s bring reason into this. Suppose we screw up Miles’ instructions. Or suppose we don’t screw up, and they still don’t work. We run the risk of making an already pissed-off vampire even angrier.”

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