Zen and the Art of Vampires

gather after that I'll be put through my paces in front of everyone. It sounds kind of creepy, to be honest.'

'Very Masonic,' Magda agreed as we kept to the shadows at the next intersection. I recognized a couple of buildings, guessing we were a few blocks away from the hotel. 'So that's going to take place tomorrow night?'

'That's the plan. In the ruins we were supposed to go to the other night.'

'Oh, good. I really wanted to see that place. I hope no one minds if I come along tomorrow? Ack. It's almost ten. You'd better get some sleep or you're going to be exhausted.'

'Yeah, I'm a bit pooped. Whoops. Come back. I think that's a cop car.'

We pulled back as we were rounding a corner, both of us watching suspiciously as a man strolled out of the front of the hotel, pausing to talk to someone sitting in an unmarked car.

'Cop?' I asked Magda.

'Definitely. They must be watching for you. Let's go around the back. Maybe there's a way we can get in there without them seeing.'

We slipped around the block, coming up against the kitchen entrance, but there was a policeman there, too, talking with easy amiability with a woman wearing a traditional white chef's hat.

'Damn. OK, how's this? I go in and distract the cop in the lobby, and you sneak through to the side stairs and go up to your room.'

'I don't have my key,' I whispered, my hopes sinking. Although the Brotherhood people had said they would give me money, I wanted my own clothing and things, which Magda thought were still in my room. 'It was in my room when I left, but I'm sure the manager or police picked it up.'

Magda pulled out her hotel key—really a plastic card with a magnetic strip—and looked thoughtful. 'There's the bathroom. That's a way in for you.'

I ran my mind back to the morning, shuddering at the memory. 'I left the door unlocked when I went to bed, in case you needed to use the room, but this morning when I found Anniki, it was locked.'

She gave a little grimace, then said thoughtfully, tapping the key card on her lips, 'That's as may be, but the police unlocked it at one point. I caught them peeking in while I was getting dressed. If they didn't lock it, I bet you could get into your room from mine via the bathroom. Or in a worst-case scenario, use the balcony our rooms share.'

'There's still the matter of getting up into your room.'

She smiled and fluffed her substantial cleavage. 'Oh, I don't think that's going to be too difficult to overcome. The girls and I can keep the lobby cop's attention long enough for you to slip in and go up the side stairs. I would avoid the elevator, though.'

'And if we're caught? I don't want you to get into trouble with the police for helping me.'

'If you're seen, I'll simply point at you and scream bloody murder,' she said confidently, giving me her key card. 'There's nothing they can do to me since I haven't done anything wrong. Just a little aiding and abetting, but what's that? Nothing, really.'

Whereas I'd honored Anniki's last request, which left me running from the scene of a murder, I thought with a twinge of guilt.

'Come on, let's go in via the verandah, and I'll go dazzle the cop inside with my fabulous breasts.'

Her plan—or breasts—worked like a charm. She had no difficulty engaging the cop's attention long enough for me to slip inside and along the far wall to the hallway that led to a set of lesser-used stairs. The reception clerk was too busy watching Magda to notice me, and my luck held all the way to Magda's room. With a quick, fearful glance up and down the hallway, I opened her room door and let myself in.

I was about to turn on the light when a muffled snore emerged from her bed. Evidently Raymond had decided to wait for her here. I knew where the door to the bathroom had to be, and edged my way carefully through the room, but it was dark and impossible to navigate without running painfully into things. The third time I smashed my toe against a piece of furniture and uttered a smothered yelp, Raymond snorted, and groggily asked, 'Honeycakes?'

I murmured something that I hoped sounded Magda-ish, and almost sighed with relief when the door to the bathroom opened easily. I closed the door behind me before turning on the light, hesitating for a moment as I considered locking it in case Raymond decided to follow me, but decided against such an action. It wouldn't be fair to keep Magda from using the room for a second night.

The bathroom had been cleaned up, so presumably the police were done with their forensics work. I eyed the spot where Anniki had lain, begging me for justice, and renewed my intention to fulfill her dying wish.

'If it was Kristoff that killed you, he won't go unpunished,' I told the empty room.

And if it was Alec? my inner critic asked. I moved toward the door, mentally shaking my head. It couldn't be Alec. I would know.

The bathroom door that led into my room wasn't locked. I sagged with relief for a moment before peeking inside. The room was dark. 'Thank heavens for police who don't stay at a crime scene.'

I was halfway into the room before the voice spoke.

'Not to mention women who just can't live without their things.'

I gasped and whirled as the lights came on. Kristoff stood next to the bed, dressed entirely in black, the golden glow from the lamp casting sinister shadows across his face.

'What are you doing here?' I asked in a high, wavering voice. I started to back away from him but realized I had nowhere to go. There was no safety for a fugitive.

'Waiting for you. Alec had an idea you'd be back. I packed up your things.'

I looked where he gestured. My large leather bag was sitting on a chair.

'Why are you following me?' I asked without thinking.

'Why did you run from me?' he countered.

'You killed a man! Right in front of me,' I said.

'I killed a reaper,' he corrected. 'One who was about to kill you.'

'He was not. He was just using me as a shield so you wouldn't bite him and turn him into the evil undead.'

Kristoff adopted a martyred expression that for some reason, I found endearing. 'Dark Ones are very much alive, and we do not turn people without a profound reason.'

My eyes widened at his words. Until that moment, I wasn't sure what part of the vampire myth was true. 'You mean you can turn people into vampires?'

'We can. It strips the soul from the person, so it is not done frequently. Certainly we are not building some sort of Dark One army to take over the world, if that's what you were about to ask.'

I closed my mouth. I was, in fact, about to ask that very thing.

'Now, if there are no more ridiculously misinformed ideas you'd like debunked, I'd like to get going. The night is young, and I have much to do.' He started toward me as he spoke.

'Don't you come near me.' I said with rising panic, backing up and reaching around blindly for an object to use as protection.

He stopped, a mildly amused look on his face. 'Why? What will you do? Call the police?'

My heart sank as I realized the veracity of his words. There was no one I could call to help me. Magda must be in her room by now, but I didn't really want to get her involved. Not with a vampire.

'I thought you wanted to see Alec. Or was your night with him so unmemorable?'

My spine stiffened at his mocking tone. 'I do want to see him, not that the night I spent with him is any of your business. I have several things I'd like to ask him, not the least of which is why he felt it necessary to give you my passport.'

'Come along, then,' he said, opening the door to the hallway a smidgen. He closed it quickly. 'We have to leave. Now.'

'Is someone coming?' I asked, torn between a desire to seek help and a knowledge that I was better off without becoming involved with the police.

'Yes. Police. Evidently you aroused suspicion getting in here.' He turned off the light, grabbed my suitcase, and flung open the French doors on the balcony.

'But no one saw me… unless the desk clerk caught a glimpse. Oy.'

Kristoff didn't say anything, just leaped off the balcony. I followed, closing the French doors behind me, peering hesitantly down to the ground, where he stood waiting impatiently in the indigo shade cast by a nearby