Lady & the Vamp

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C h a p t e r   2

As Quinn drove along the seemingly endless historic Route 66, he went over the plan in his mind. It wouldn't be simple, but it would work.

But first he had to take care of something

He glanced at Barkley, who had rolled down the window all the way and was letting the wind whip through his shaggy black hair. His eyes were closed and he had a look of complete bliss on his face.

First he'd unload the werewolf. Barkley would only slow him down.

He thought Quinn's motives for agreeing to drive him across the country to rejoin his pack were completely altruistic. Barkley didn't have a driver's license. He was also deathly afraid of airplanes. He'd assumed that Quinn needed a change of scenery-to clear his head and get used to his new status as a reluctant vampire. And what better way than to take part in a road trip across the country?

Right.

But driving Barkley home was only part of the reason for his trip to Arizona. The letter in his pocket was the other reason.

The letter had been sent by his father's best friend and hunting buddy, Malcolm Price, eight years ago, and arrived only days after Malcolm had been murdered. It contained information that pinpointed the location where the Eye was buried, right there in Arizona in a place called Goodlaw.

The Eye was a magical artifact. Legend told that it once belonged to a powerful demon who was vanquished a thousand years ago; the Eye itself hidden away by those whose worship of the demon had turned to fear for their tribe's safety. Should the Eye be found, the legend continued, it would grant one wish to whomever possessed it. Roger Quinn had searched obsessively for the relic, and met with only failure and had quit his search in frustration after many long years.

Malcolm, when alive, had surmised that the timing was off. That the Eye would only reveal itself after a thousand years. Before that time had transpired it would be a waste of time to even attempt to find it.

But, according to Malcolm's eight year old letter, it was the right time now.

"Almost there," he said, turning down the radio that was set to a seventies rock and roll station-Led Zeppelin leading into early Van Halen.

Barkley pulled the half of his body currently outside of the Ford rental in and rolled up the window.

"Great." He didn't sound terribly enthusiastic.

Quinn eyed him. "What's wrong?"

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong. It's all good." He let out a sigh that sounded very shuddery.

"I thought you wanted to go back to your pack."

"I do. Really. I do. Of course I do. Why wouldn't I? It's my duty."

"Right. Duty."

Barkley nodded. "I'm going to be Alpha."

"Yeah, so you were saying before. That's the leader, right?"

"Alpha wolf. Right. The leader."

"You know, I don't know all that much about werewolves." Quinn flicked his right turn signal on and exited the highway. "My specialty was vamps, of course. But I thought that you didn't simply become Alpha, you had to fight your way to the top."

Barkley unrolled his window a few inches again. He was breathing unsteadily. "Yup, that's right."

"So you have to fight somebody?"

He nodded and cleared his throat. "To the death. A guy named Brutus. He's really big."

"You don't have to."

"Yeah, I do. In fact, I was set to fight him when I took off, turned wolf, and ran like hell."

"And you got stuck that way."

"Two long years." He scratched behind his ear. "Man, I think I still have a flea. Damn bloodsuckers. No offense."

"None taken." Quinn frowned. "I always thought turning into a werewolf had to do with the moon's cycle."

"Dude, I'm not a chick. I'm not on a monthly cycle. Weres normally can shift anytime we want to, only it's true that during the full moon it becomes a little harder to resist. I don't know why I got stuck, but the moon didn't make any difference at all to me. Now, hopefully, I'm all back to my normal shifty self."

Quinn decided not to mention he used to hang out with a few guys who hunted werewolves. And they were very good at it. Weres could be an even bigger challenge than vamps. They ran faster, for one thing. Also they had a whole mouth of sharp teeth rather than just two fangs.

"When the fight's over," Barkley said, "and if I'm still breathing, I'm supposed to get hitched to the Alpha bitch."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Alpha bitch?"

"A real ball buster. Name's Rosalyn." Another shudder went through him. "Gorgeous, but a real piece of work."

"And you're going back to the pack because?"

"There comes a time in every man's life when he has to face his destiny." Barkley let out a long breath. "This is my time."

"Well, that's good to hear."

"Why's that?"

"Because we're here."

He could have sworn he heard a whimper.

It was a very small town named, perhaps not coincidentally, Wolfington. Surrounded by desert, with a few cactuses scattered here and there, it looked like a modern version of an old west town. Quinn watched and waited for a tumbleweed to roll past the car and was a little disappointed when there was nothing.

Barkley cleared his throat. "Home sweet home. I guess you can drop me off up by that hardware store. My father owned that."

"Was he Alpha too?"

There was a long pause. "He tried. It didn't go too well."

Quinn cringed at that. "Why were you chosen to be next in line?"

"It was predicted. There are these old, hairy women whose job it is to predict things. I predicted it too, in a dream."

"The psychic thing." Quinn said blandly.

Barkley was convinced that he was a werewolf who possessed second sight. Quinn, while he'd seen many unusual things in his thirty years, did not fully believe in psychics. It wasn't tangible enough for him. For something unusual, he had to see it with his own two eyes. And Barkley hadn't done anything yet to convince him otherwise.

"Yeah," Barkley turned to Quinn and frowned. "You know, I was never able to get a read on you. Vampires are kind of like a psychic blank slate."

"Thanks."

"Trust me, it can come in handy."

"I'll remember that."

"You know, it's funny. I've been having this dream the past couple of days. I never even thought it might be precognitive."

"About me?"

"Not unless you're a gorgeous redhead in her early twenties who looks great in a black cocktail dress."

Quinn eyed him sideways. "No, that probably wouldn't be me."

"Didn't think so." He glanced out of the window. "Where are you off to now?"

Quinn shrugged and tried to appear at ease when he felt anything but. "I have an old friend around this area. I think I might look him up while I'm here."

It wasn't too much of a lie. It was an old friend of his father's, currently deceased, and Quinn would follow the directions he'd written in the letter, because that's where the Eye allegedly could be found.

"Good luck to you." Barkley held out his hand and Quinn shook it.

"You too. You know, you don't have to fight. There are other options."

"Facing my destiny, man."

"I hope you find it."

Barkley got out of the car and grabbed his duffle bag from the back seat. Since he'd been stuck in werewolf form for so long, he didn't have many possessions. Some clothes he'd borrowed. A new toothbrush. A brand new forged passport. But that was about it.

"Matthew Barkley? Is that really you?" a voice called from down the block.

Quinn nodded at Barkley and pulled away from the curb. He actually felt a lump in his throat for some strange reason. They'd been traveling together for three days and he had to admit that he actually enjoyed the guy's company. Somebody to talk to who was able to make him laugh, and whom he was fairly assured wouldn't try to put a wooden stake through his chest at the earliest convenience.

No, Barkley belonged there. It was his home. His, as he'd said, destiny. Now Quinn had to go find his own.

He took a last glance in the rearview mirror to see a group of four men approaching Barkley. The Wolfington welcoming committee.

Barkley took a step forward and-Quinn frowned-he threw his duffle bag at the men. Then he turned away and began running very fast after Quinn's car.

What the hell?

Quinn turned to look over his shoulder. Yes, Barkley was running after him and wildly flailing his arms with a distinctly panicked expression on his face. Two of the men who'd come out to greet him began to pursue the fleeing werewolf and they didn't look friendly.

Some welcoming committee.

He applied pressure to the brakes and pressed the button to roll down the passenger window. Barkley thundered up beside the car after a moment, breathing hard.

"Problem?" Quinn asked.

Barkley looked behind him, yelped, and then yanked open the door so he could throw himself inside the car.

"Drive!" he yelled. "Just drive!"

Quinn slammed his foot down on the accelerator and drove. After a minute, the large men running after them became no more than pissed off specks in the distance.

Quinn then turned to Barkley and raised his eyebrow. "Facing your destiny not all it's cracked up to be?"

"They were going to kill me," Barkley panted. "Right there. They weren't even going to let me fight Brutus."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I...I think they thought I was dead already. Maybe I should have called first and let them know I was coming back."

"But that doesn't explain why they want you dead."

He shook his head. "Dude, all I saw were silver knives and I ran. Those guys were Brutus's men. I'm not going back there." He let out a long breath. "I guess you're stuck with me for a while longer."

Quinn kept his eyes on the road. "So now what?"

Barkley leaned back in the seat until his breathing slowed down to normal. "Now, I guess I'll come with you to see your friend. You don't mind my company for a bit longer, do you?"

"Uh. I don't think that's a very good idea."

"Sure it is. Listen, let's stop for something to eat first. Running for my life works up an appetite. If I remember correctly, there's a roadside diner about ten minutes west of here that serves the best hamburger in the state. You hungry?"

"I don't eat."

"Oh yeah." He frowned. "You know, I haven't seen you drink any blood lately, either. Do you do it in private? Like a secret Twinkie obsession? You can drink in front of me if you want to. It doesn't gross me out."

Quinn glanced at him sideways "I haven't...drunk anything for a few days. The thought of drinking blood makes me sick."

"I did think you were starting to look a little gaunt. So what are you? Like, a vampire anorexic, or something?"

"I will drink when I have to, but not before."

"Okay, okay. You do what you have to do. But can we stop for lunch so I can eat something?"

Quinn clenched his jaw and stared at the road ahead. Fine. They'd stop at the diner and as soon as he was sure that Barkley was safe from his old friends, then he'd take off. He'd leave some money so the werewolf could get a lift with somebody else.

He felt a twist of guilt in his gut but knew he couldn't back down now. It had to be done, and the sooner the better.

The Stardust Diner, as the sign read when they arrived, would be the last stop on the Quinn and Barkley phase of his quest for the Eye.

* * *

"The Stardust Diner? You're sure this is the right place?"

Janie showed her partner, Lenny, the piece of paper the Boss had given her for, like, the eightieth time that day as they pulled up alongside the restaurant.

"Stardust," Lenny said it again. "Like the Frank Sinatra song. I love that song."

Lenny was six-foot-five and built like a linebacker. He had hair cut so short his scalp could be seen through the dark stubble and he had a crooked nose that had been broken multiple times in his life. He wore a black leather jacket and Doc Marten boots, and he could scare little children with one look.

He also had the soul of a poet. A bad poet.

And unfortunately, he had a massive crush (unrequited) on Janie and wrote a great deal of that bad poetry about her.

They'd been working together for almost a year. She'd recently requested a change in partners, but the Company took their own sweet time when it came to things like that.

She turned around in the black Mustang convertible to check the backseat.

Five wooden stakes. Check.

Two silver daggers. Check.

Stun gun. Check.

Gun with garlic darts that worked as a tranquilizer to temporarily knock out any unsuspecting vamps. Check.

Her favorite gun-a sturdy and reliable Firestar with silver bullets for the werewolf companion. Check.

She decided to carry the gun with silver bullets. The bullets would work on vamp or werewolf. She turned around to grab it and put it in the shoulder holster under her new navy blue Anne Klein jacket and added two wooden stakes and the stun gun to her designer handbag arsenal just in case. As a last thought, she added the gun with tranq darts. It would weigh her down a bit, but a girl could never be well-armed enough when it came to fighting monsters.

"How will we know who they are?" Lenny asked, scanning the area of the diner.

It was a good question. The Stardust Diner was a busy location, right next to the heavily traveled highway. A good place to grab lunch or take a bathroom break while on the way to one's final destination. Vamps and weres could easily blend in with regular humans, and the Boss hadn't given her a heads up on their appearance.

It was noon. She knew that sunlight didn't bother vamps, contrary to the popular myth. Most could go out at anytime of the day or night. Usually they were a little weaker during daylight hours and also quite sun sensitive, so they could typically be spotted wearing sunglasses even on an overcast day. But today the sun was blazing bright in the sky and everyone in the area wore sunglasses. No help there.

Vampires definitely didn't have reflections. That might be a clue. The diner was surrounded by windows that reflected the surroundings.

She twisted her turquoise necklace until her fingers felt numb. "Just watch for anything out of the ordinary."

"So when we find them, you want me to beat any information out of them?"

She shook her head. "Too many witnesses. Let me handle it and be there for back-up. The note said they'd be here by now so keep your eyes peeled."

"While we're waiting, you want to hear my latest?" Lenny flipped through his ever-present notebook.

"Not particularly."

"Oh come on."

She sighed. It's not as if he ever took no for an answer. Why did she even bother trying to resist?

He cleared his throat. "It's called Janie's Got A Gun:

Janie's got a gun
She's got the bad guys on the run
If you're a Were...
Beware
If you're a vampire
I ain't no liar
Cause Janie's got a gun."

That, surprisingly enough, was one of the better ones she'd heard lately.

Janie nodded. "Great."

Lenny beamed. "Thanks."

A car pulled up across from them. A blue Ford Escort. The doors opened up and two men got out.

Janie gasped and sank down in her seat. "Oh shit."

Lenny turned to her. "What's wrong?"

She grabbed his arm to make him sink down below window level. "Shhh."

Then she raised herself up just enough to peer over the dashboard. Her stomach began to churn.

Well, there was her sign.

One vampire and one werewolf, right on schedule.

The vampire was broad shouldered. His clothes, a simple dark green T-shirt and faded blue jeans, fit his lean but muscular frame perfectly. His dark blond hair was shorter than she remembered it. She could only see half of his handsome face and square jaw that was speckled with stubble, and those lips-she'd dreamed of those lips many times before-beneath a straight nose. Dark sunglasses that covered eyes she knew were a dark ocean blue turned her way as he scanned the area before entering the diner.

The werewolf was a little taller, about the same build, with black hair. He was smiling. The vamp wasn't.

Lenny elbowed her. "Hey, don't you know that guy?"

Janie didn't answer. What were the odds? The Boss must have known. This had to be another test to make sure she was loyal to the Company.

A dozen years ago, Michael Quinn had been her brother's friend and Janie's childhood crush. She'd seen him recently and had the chance to kill him once she'd realized he'd become a vampire. But she couldn't do it. Instead she knocked him out with garlic darts since he was blocking her way to what she was after at the time.

But her sister's life wasn't at risk then. It was now.

She didn't give a damn about any vampire, no matter who he used to be.

She'd do what it took to save Angela. Whatever it took.

Read Chapter 3!

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