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

After our little confrontation the evening before, I'd expected him to complain when I'd stomped into his room and demanded that he change sleeping quarters so I could leave him during the day without worrying. But he'd just shrugged, grabbed a pillow and followed me to the darkest corner I could find. I'd covered him with a tarp and disguised the lump he made by placing a row of paint cans along the top edge of the cabinet.

'Sorry,' I'd said as I'd turned to leave, knowing he was laying in enough mildew to start a spoor factory.

'It is fine,' I heard him say, 'there is little a hot shower cannot cure.'

What a guy. Too bad he'd been mostly dead for centuries.

Chapter Eighteen

Bergman and I sat on a couple of overturned five gallon buckets in the basement of Diamond Suites, waiting for night to fall. Any minute now Vayl would stir, and he probably wouldn't appreciate the audience, but Bergman's unspoken sense of urgency had rubbed off on me. We really needed to get out, before Aidyn and Liliana caught onto our scam and resorted to something more dependable than southern-fried assassins. Like a bomb.

The last vestige of light left the basement. Yeah, creepy. Bergman and I flicked on our flashlights. Somehow that made it worse. And it was no consolation to know there really could be monsters hiding in the shadows between the boiler and the storage closets. I'd been eyeing the edges of Freakoutland for maybe a minute when I heard a huge, gasping gulp that made me jump up and overturn my bucket despite the fact that I'd been expecting it. When the muttering started, however, I relaxed. The Vayl-shaped plastic on top of the cabinet in the furthest corner of the basement creaked as he started to move, his complaints getting louder as he remembered where he was. With our flashlights trained on his location, we were mesmerized by the sight of a vamp dressed in blue plastic. We watched him struggle to escape seemingly endless yards of tarp while paint cans dropped off the cabinet's edge like gumballs from a faulty machine. Still enmeshed from the knees down, Vayl flopped off the cabinet before we realized he needed a hand down, falling fast and hard like a penguin who hasn't bought the whole flightless scenario. Somehow he recovered, so quickly his movements were a dizzying blur, and landed on his feet.

'What are you doing here?' he grumbled, giving Bergman a slight nod to acknowledge his arrival.

'Waiting for you,' I replied. 'Need some coffee, do you?'

'No.' He looked pointedly at my neck and, this is embarrassing, but I'm pretty sure I blushed. Nonetheless, I barreled on.

'Bergman needs a day to find you a willing donor—'

'I told you, I can find my own donors,' he snapped. He took a minute to regroup. 'I am sorry. Waking is never pleasant for me. What I meant to say…' he stopped, took inward stock and started over, 'What I now realize is that I do not need any donors, not tonight anyway. I woke with the same longing as ever, but without the need. Last night… the blood I took last night was more… potent… than I realized.'

I cleared my throat. What do you say when you find out your blood is really filling? It's not a manwich, it's a meal! Nope, not going there. 'Um, we need to get out of here as soon as possible.' I gave Vayl the short version of Rudy and Amy Jo's adventures and my distraction theory. I also told him about my visit with Cassandra. His immobile face registered actual shock when I mentioned the Tor- al-Degan.

'So you've heard of this thing?' I asked.

'I have. I do not know how it was vanquished the last time someone brought it forth, but I know many died trying.'

'Well, look, Assan's goon said there was a ceremony tomorrow that seemed to involve the Tor-al-Degan, Assan, the senator, and possibly Aidyn. If we're lucky the Raptor will show up too and we can bowl a strike.' I went on, 'I figure we eliminate Assan tonight after we get the details we need to crash their party and,' like the hero and heroine in a really fine melodrama, 'foil their plans.'

'I agree. But we must anticipate what other distractions they may throw at us to keep us from accomplishing that.'

Right on cue, my phone rang. It was Cole. 'Lucille? My building's on fire! The pictures, they're burning!'

'Where are you?'

'Here! With the fire trucks!'

Holy crap! 'Listen! It's not an accident! Assan is onto you! Look around, do you see any of his men?'

'No. I don't know. It's… there are dark patches here and there. They could be hiding.'

Through the phone I heard an explosive, popping noise. 'Cole? What's that?'

'The windows just exploded! Oh my God, my business!'

'We'll work it out for you, Cole. But right now, you need to run—'

'Hey! What're you doing! Let me go!'

'Cole, tell me—'

'Lucille! They've—' the phone went dead.

I shoved it into my pocket and jumped up. 'Assan has Cole!'

Vayl laid a hand on my shoulder, probably to keep me from sprinting off into the night like some mad cross country runner. 'We will get him back. Tonight. But we need to get Cassandra too. She is the only other person who has had contact with us. They may know about her. They may use her as the next distraction.'

I wanted to say something stupid like, 'But she's not on the way.' I held my tongue. Vayl was right. 'I should call her, though. So she'll be ready to go when we come.'

'I imagine she already knows.'

Bergman and I had already packed everything that could be salvaged into the van. The Mercedes would stay