Jennifer Rardin - [Jaz Parks 1] - Once Bitten, Twice Shy

We both fell silent, thinking about the vamp who would, according to Pete's prediction, become the nemesis of every government of every developed country in the world by the end of the decade. If we could use our current suspects to prove all the suppositions we'd collected regarding the Raptor and thus justify a hit on him—to say that the safety and stability of the world would increase exponentially would not be an overstatement.

The limo ahead of us slowed, searching for parking. It had led us to South Beach, where the pretty people met to PARTAYYY! Bars, restaurants, two theatres and a comedy club, all dressed up in Art Deco and neon, shared the neighborhood with the establishment in front of which the limo stopped. The place resembled a Jaycees haunted house, from the rocking tombstones that spelled out CLUB UNDEAD on the fake granite facade, to the glowing skeletons that hung from the second floor balcony, to the green lights that outlined the entire building.

Despite the fact that many party hounds still sat at home whimpering into their doggy pillows, a steady stream of handsome men, beautiful women, and gorgeous men dressed as women moved up and down the sidewalks. Braving the unseasonal chill, even more revelers sat together at the tables that lined the walk, enjoying the company, the booze, and the cheerful glow that came from twinkle lights lining the frames of their patio umbrellas.

Lucky for us, Liliana and her goons had to wait in line before Club Undead's bouncer, a 21st century version of Frankenstein, let them in. That gave us the slack we needed to secure a parking space in an open lot just down the street. We left the car and joined the crowd, sauntering as close to the club as we dared before finding a spot in a darkened doorway beside a closed deli to make like cuddling lovers.

I stood in the circle of Vayl's arms, fighting distraction. This whole new spectrum of color had opened up to me, but I couldn't relish it. I felt like a security guard at the Louvre, forced to watch the potential thieves when I really just wanted to stare at the Mona Lisa. As it happened, that lovely little side effect was just the first in a series of brushstrokes that would eventually reveal an entirely new picture of my life. The second had just begun to show its shadow, a creeping feeling of immense imbalance, when Vayl interrupted my inner inventory.

'There is something else you need to know.' His voice rang loud, almost strident, in my ear. 'I did not kill my sons.'

'Do I look that gullible?' I asked. 'Geez, Vayl, I don't believe half the things you say and I trust you.'

I didn't realize he was holding himself rigid until he sighed and slumped against the wall at his back.

'I was nearly 40,' he began as he kept vigil, his chin just level with my nose. 'My boys were almost grown. Hanzi was fifteen. His brother, Badu, was thirteen.' Vayl spoke their names as if they were holy. 'Liliana gave me five children altogether, but Hanzi and Badu were the only ones to survive infancy. And so… we spoiled them.' He lapsed into silence. I felt my heart break a little for the couple he and Liliana had been, desperately sad for their lost children, desperate to make sure their living children survived.

Something near the apex of my aching ribs started to quiver. I felt like I was about to get a really grim phone call. And though Vayl was laying out the story of his tragic life for me because some warped vampire rule said I deserved to know, I knew the feeling wasn't coming from him.

'They grew wild right in front of my eyes,' he continued, 'and by the time I mustered the courage to tame them it was already too late. They went from teasing dogs with sticks to breaking windows with stones. When they drove into camp one afternoon in a wagon they had stolen… I snapped. I raged at them. I whipped them like toddlers. I forced them to return the wagon with their apologies.'

The modern girl in me thought, Vayl's family was camping? What, were they trying to save on hotel bills? The next thought, riding a sea of embarrassment, washed over me with the speed of a tidal wave. They were gypsies.

'What happened?' I asked.

'The farmer they had stolen it from shot them both before they had a chance to explain.'

'Oh, Vayl.' I held him tight, and not just because my heart bled for him. That feeling of wrongness had intensified. The little girl in me urgently needed a teddy bear. 'That's awful,' I murmured.

Vayl made a sound in the back of his throat, a primal distress signal, the kind of sound you might hear from elephants as they mourn over the bones of lost brothers. 'I wanted to kill the man, because I could not kill myself. I blamed him completely, heaping my own weakness and self hatred upon him until just shooting him would not be enough. I wanted him to die slowly, over days, even weeks if possible. I wanted him to sink into horror as if it were quicksand.'

'What…' I swallowed, sick with this nameless feeling of dread, appalled by Vayl's story, 'what did you do?'

'I became the horror.' His voice dropped to a whisper. 'It was so easy. My family,' he frowned, 'my father, my grandparents, you have discerned by now that they held certain… powers?' I nodded, Cirilai warming my finger like a living thing. 'Though I had never felt the call to take part in their rituals, I had watched them work all my life, lifting curses, saving souls. Now I simply did the opposite.'

'How?'

'I took three wooden crosses, profaned by the blood of murdered men, my own sons in fact. I set them in a triangle and stepped into its center. I called upon the unholy spirits to send me a vampire.'

'And?'

'They sent him all right. But they made sure he met my wife first.'

'I'm so sorry.'

'It was a long time ago, lifetimes ago. There is no need for you to be sorry.'

'Well, I am, but that's not what I was talking about.'

'What then?'

'I'm sorry I have to stop you telling a story that was so hard to start. But we have to go. Now!' I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the shadows, onto a sidewalk lit by street lamps and some other source my new vision appreciated but could not pinpoint. I led him to the corner where we stood facing a stoplight, the music from a heavy metal band blatting through the walls of the bar behind us.

'What is it?' Vayl asked as we waited for traffic to clear.