Bloodstone

Kane stood, hackles rising with him. He barked sharply. Then he lowered his head and growled.

The werewolf stepped back. He glanced at me. “Sorry,” he muttered, and hurried away.

“Nice dominance display,” I told Kane. He sat and thumped his tail. I wished it had been that easy with the werewolf bachelorettes.

After several more minutes of waiting, the crowd thinned and I saw our chance. I grabbed the handle to the bulkhead door and pulled. And nearly wrenched my back. I pulled again. The door was locked.

“Is there another way in?”

Kane shook his head.

“Okay, let’s try plan B.” Always have a contingency plan.

I led the way to Deadtown’s northern boundary, where there was a dead spot in the electric fence. What I found was a big, new sign that read: DANGER. HIGH VOLTAGE. DO NOT TOUCH. I didn’t stand around long wondering if the sign was for real. A moth flitted past, attracted by portable floodlights trained on Deadtown from the other side. It bumped the wire, and got zapped into oblivion.

So much for our contingency plan.

“THERE MUST BE SOME WAY OUT,” I SAID. WE WERE IN THE bedroom, having a strategy meeting with Mab. Tina was in the kitchen, cleaning up. Again. I could hardly believe it.

“You could shift,” Mab said. “Become a bird, for example, and fly over the fence. Although there would be several drawbacks.”

“I’ve thought about those. I couldn’t carry out any weapons, and there’s no telling how long the shift would last.” Not to mention I’d wake up naked in some strange place, perhaps miles away from my goal. My human mind and personality didn’t have much control over whatever animal I shifted to, so if the bird decided it was time to fly up north to its nesting grounds in Nova Scotia, that’s what it would do.

“What about the man who made my ID? Can he help?”

“I already called him. He can smuggle documents, but not people. He didn’t have a clue.”

My shoulders sagged. Kane, lying on the floor, put his head on his paws.

“Think, child. We must get you past the boundary.”

The door opened, and Tina stuck her head in. “Is that all you want to do? Get out of Deadtown?”

“Tina, this is a private conversation,” I said.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help overhearing.”

“Through a closed door?”

Mab held up a hand. “Let her speak, Victory. We need all the ideas we can get.”

Tina came in and sat at the foot of the bed. “I sneak out of Deadtown all the time. It’s easiest in the winter, because then everyone’s all bundled up with hats and scarves and stuff and nobody can even tell you’re a zombie.”

“Are you thinking of that dead spot in the north fence?” I asked. “Because it’s got lots of juice now.”

“I’ve used that spot, but there are lots of other ways.” She bit her lip and looked at each of us, considering. “Okay, I’m not supposed to tell anybody this, but there’s this club. We sneak out of Deadtown and visit different places in Boston. It’s fun.” Sort of like a zombie version of the urban exploration club Roxana mentioned.

“Tina, do you know how much trouble you’d be in if you got caught outside of Deadtown without a permit? They’d call in the Removal Squad.” Zombies who got removed were never heard from again. And that was true even when there wasn’t a containment order in place.

She shrugged. “So we don’t get caught.”

“And right now it’s too dangerous. They’ve fixed the electric fence. They’ve added police patrols. They’ve even called in the National Guard.” I turned to Mab. “I’ll have to shift. It’s not ideal, but it’s the only way.”

“It’s not the only way. Some of us are sneaking out tomorrow night.” Tina flipped her hair behind her shoulder. “What? If it’s too easy, it’s no fun.”

Mab laughed. “That young lady,” she said, shaking a finger at Tina, “reminds me of myself at that age.”

Tina puffed up like a preening cockatoo.

“Okay,” I said. “Where are you planning to sneak out? I’ll go take a look now.”

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t heard from Brendan. He’s the one with all the maps and police information and stuff. He’ll text us tomorrow and tell us when and where to meet.”

“I don’t like it,” I said to Mab. I didn’t want to be caught with a bunch of teenage zombies trying to sneak out of Deadtown on a lark. And if I had to wait until tomorrow, there would be no chance for a trial run.

“Let’s reserve judgment until we learn of this Brendan’s plan,” Mab said. “If it doesn’t seem feasible, you can still get out by shifting.”

“Awesome!” Tina said, bouncing on the bed with excitement. “This will be so fun. It’ll almost be like we’re out fighting demons again.” She got up. “I know, I know. You don’t have to say it. I’m not your apprentice anymore.” She grinned. “But it’ll still be fun.”

TINA LEFT TO MAKE IT BACK TO HER GROUP HOME BEFORE the curfew took effect. About two minutes past ten, there was a knock on my door. I went to answer it, wondering why Clyde hadn’t called to announce the visitor. Then I realized he was under curfew, too. He’d be home, like everyone else.

Everyone but the Goon Squad. Because that’s who was at my door.

Pam McFarren, the female zombie Goon, stood outside, a clipboard in hand. “Curfew compliance check,” she said.

Lucky me. Right at the top of the list.

“Mind if I come in?” she asked.

“Do you have to? You can see that I’m home.”

She held her clipboard at arm’s length and squinted at it like she needed reading glasses. “Says here this apartment has three residents. I don’t need to go inside if they all come to the door.”

Three. Carlos had done a good job of putting Mab in the database. But I wasn’t going to drag her out of bed just to parade her in front of the Goon Squad. They’d insist on checking the apartment, anyway, since Juliet wasn’t here.

I opened the door wider. McFarren walked past me. Behind her came a human cop I’d never seen before. He was tall and thin, with a shaved head and an oversized Adam’s apple. He nodded as he passed.

“Where’s Norden?”

“Elmer quit the task force,” McFarren said, shrugging. “He said he wanted to go back to working in the human parts of town.”

Yeah, right. What he’d actually said was probably more along the lines of “just get me away from those goddamn freaks.”

“I felt kind of bad for him,” McFarren said. “I really think his old partner’s death got to him. It was like he couldn’t stand being around PDHs anymore. Last time we patrolled together, he wouldn’t even walk on the same side of the street as me.” She shook her head sadly. “The department’s got good psychological resources. I hope he’ll make use of them.” She tapped her clipboard with her pencil. “Now, I’m looking for three residents. You’re Vaughn, Victory.” She made a checkmark on the page. “Where’s Vaughn, Mabel?”

“That’s my aunt. She’s in the bedroom. Do you have to disturb her? She’s sick.”

“Just a peek.” McFarren cracked open the bedroom door and looked inside. “Sorry to bother you, Mabel, dear,” she said, pulling the door shut. I hoped Mab was asleep. It wouldn’t be good for her condition to have steam shooting out of her ears at being called Mabel.

“And what about Capulet, Juliet?” McFarren asked.

“Is that supposed to be a trick question? You know as well as I do that she’s missing.”

“So that’s an X then.” She marked the clipboard. “Where’s her room?”

I showed her. She and her partner took a quick look inside. They also checked the bathroom and the kitchen. I didn’t know where Kane was, but I was glad he was keeping out of sight.

At the front door, McFarren tucked her clipboard under her arm. “You still don’t know Ms. Capulet’s whereabouts?”