Like Part of the Family

glue. North and East tried to take me high and low, but they’d have done better to try and run. I brought my knee up into East’s jaw as he went for the low tackle and his head burst like a casaba melon. I caught North by the throat and squeezed. Red geysered up from the stump of his neck as his head fell away. South backed away, putting himself between me and Skye, arms spread, making a more heroic stand than I’d have thought. I tore the heart from his chest. Turns out, vampires need their hearts.

Skye had my gun in his hands. He racked the slide and buried the barrel against me as I leaped over the desk. He got off four shots. They hurt.

Like wasp stings.

Maybe a little less.

I don’t load my piece with silver bullets. I’m not an idiot.

He looked into my eyes and I would like to think that he saw the error of his ways. Don’t fuck with the innocent. Don’t fuck with my clients. My clients are mine, like members of my pack. Mess with them and the pack leader has to put you down. Has to.

So I did.

* * *

She saw me coming from across the street, her face concerned and confused. I was wearing a different pair of pants and different shoes. My own had been torn to rags during the change. Stuff I was wearing used to belong to the bartender. He didn’t need them anymore. He’d been on the same team as Skye and the four goons.

I opened the door and climbed in behind the wheel.

“Are you all right, Sam?” she asked, studying my face. “Are you hurt? Is that blood?”

I dabbed at a dot on my cheek. Missed a spot. I pulled a tissue out of my jacket pocket and wiped my cheek.

“Just ketchup,” I said.

“You stopped for food?” she demanded, eyes wide.

“It was on the house. I was hungry. No biggie.”

She stared at me and then looked at the club across the street. The snow was getting heavier, the ground was white and it was starting to coat the street.

“What happened in there?”

I put the key into the ignition.

“I had a long talk with your ex. I told him that you were feeling threatened and uncomfortable with his actions, and I asked him to back off.”

“What did he say?”

“He won’t be bothering you anymore.”

“Just like that? He agreed to leave me alone just like that?” She snapped her fingers.

“More or less. I told him that I had some friends on the force and in L & I. Guess I made it clear that I could make his lifemore uncomfortable than he was making yours. He didn’t like it, but…” I let the rest hang.

“And he agreed? ”

“Take my word for it. He’s out of your life.”

She continued to study me for several long seconds. I waited her out and I saw the moment when she shifted from doubt and fear to belief and acceptance. She closed her eyes, sagged back against the seat, put her face in her hands and began to cry.

I gripped the wheel and looked out at the falling snow, hiding the smile that kept trying to creep onto my mouth. I was digging the P.I. business. Fewer rules than when I was a cop. It allowed me to be closer to the street, to go hunting deeper into the forest.

Even so — and despite what I’d said to Skye — I was pretty rattled that he’d been a vampire. I mean, being who and what I am I always suspected other things were out there in the dark, but until now I’d never met them. Now I knew. How many vampires were there? Where were they? Would they be coming for me?

I didn’t have any of those answers. Not yet.

I also wondered what else was out there. I could feel the excitement racing through me. I wanted to find out. Good or bad.

I reached out a hand and patted Mrs. Skye’s trembling shoulder. It felt good to know that one of the pack was safe now. It felt right. It made me feel powerful and satisfied on a lot of different levels. I knew that I was going to want to feel this way again. And again.

The snow swirled inside the thickening shadows.

Inside my head the wolf howled.

THE END