HEARTLESS
CHAPTER SEVEN
I stood on the balcony, leant slightly forward into the night with my hands grasping the rails tightly, looking out at the city and the dazzling lights that filled every inch of it. There weren’t many buildings higher than this one, and only the imposing form of the Empire State Building was stretched above me. Joseph had always liked to be the best, and the venue for his annual Christmas party was no exception. He’d rented it specially, and the whole top floor of the building had been transformed into a glittering wonderland, crammed with all sorts of supernaturals, business men and excited plus ones.
The balcony, however, was relievingly empty. I tipped my head back, stretching my neck, and took a deep breath. I needed to compose myself before I went back in to the room. I just couldn’t handle the constant pretence of being who Joseph thought I was, or the incessant worry that one of the vampires would recognise me from my less than successful appearance at their hideout.
A hand settled on my shoulder, warm against my cold skin. “Where did you go?” asked Joseph.
I turned around, dislodging his hand in the process. He looked concerned.
“I needed some air,” I said lightly. “It’s crowded in there.”
“You should come inside. It’s freezing out here… the weather report said that it was scheduled to snow again. There’s going to be a blizzard. You’ll freeze to death in that dress if you stay outside.”
I glanced down at my short, sequined dress. The dress code hadn’t been as strict for this night, and I’d taken full advantage of it. It had been a relief to leave behind all the elegant long dresses that I had been forced to wear at other parties. I had loathed them not only because they were inconvenient, but because they were completely ridiculous. I felt more comfortable in the short dress, and I’d even managed to buy it with the few dollars that I’d found in the pocket of one of my more recent victims.
“I’ll be fine,” I dismissed. “It’s not that cold.” I tried to ignore the goose bumps that had sprung up all over my skin.
He took hold of my arm, pulling me close to him. “Let’s go inside,” he insisted. “Where’s Luna, by the way? I thought you were with her.”
“She was talking with one of your work friends. I left her to it.” He’d been human, which I’d been relieved about, so I knew she wasn’t in harms way. Not that Luna couldn’t handle herself, of course. Even if he was been one of the supernatural, he wouldn’t last five minutes if Luna put her mind to it.
“Which one?”
I shrugged. “They’re all intimidating guys in suits.”
Joseph grinned. He must’ve had a few more drinks than usual, because he normally didn’t act so carefree. Even though I’d never admit it, I kind of liked this Joseph. “Am I an intimidating guy in a suit?”
I found myself feeling more relaxed, too. Maybe it was the fresh air, or Joseph’s levity, or the drink that I’d had on the way in, but whatever it was it made my guard drop.
“Yes,” I replied instantly. “But you’re a nice intimidating guy in a suit.”
“Suits me.”
“Nice pun.”
“Didn’t even think of that one.”
“You’re a natural.”
“We’re going inside.”
Sighing, I let him pull me across the balcony and through the double doors that led back inside. We were immediately engulfed in warm air, half central heating, half body heat. Christmas songs were playing softly in the background, overwhelmed by the loud chatter of the guests.
“Do you want a drink?” Joseph murmured in my ear, steering me away from a crowd of dancing people.
“I have a feeling I’ll need one.”
We walked over to the bar and Joseph took two flutes of Champagne, of course, off of a tray. Sometimes I felt as if I did nothing but drink Champagne when I was with Joseph.
“I don’t think I’ve asked you what you’re doing for Christmas yet,” he said casually.
“I’m spending it with Luna,” I replied levelly. “We’re going out for the day.” To tell the truth, we didn’t have any plans if you didn’t count staying in and watching bad TV all day before hitting the Christmas parties in search of rogue vampires. Somehow I didn’t think that was what Joseph wanted to hear.
“Aren’t you going to spend it with your family?”
I shrugged, glancing away. “I’ve told you, they live in England. It’s hard to arrange such a long journey, especially round this time of year.”
“You could always come with me on one of my business trips. I’m going there next month if you’d care to join me.”
Oh shit, how was I going to talk myself out of this one? A trip to England would be just as effective as handing myself in to the police.
“I don’t know if that would be a good idea…”
“Why not? Don’t you want me to meet the family?” he said, only half teasing.
“It’s not that, Joseph, and besides, you can hardly talk. How come I’ve never seen any of your family?”
“Do you want to see them? You’ve already met my sister.”
I thought for a second. “Oh, that’s right. Alyssa, wasn’t it? I’d hardly call it a proper meeting, since we met for five minutes at a party while you two talked to each other. Half the time she glared at me, and for the other half she ignored me.”
“She was shy.”
“She hated me.”
Alyssa was a shifter like Joseph and she mistrusted anything that wasn’t supernatural, including, and especially, me.
We were interrupted when a large woman stopped next to us, smiling widely. “Joseph!” she exclaimed. She was red in the face, and her chubby hand was clutched around an empty wine glass. She’d obviously been heading back to the bar to get it refilled.
“Petunia,” he greeted. He smiled, though it looked forced.
“And who’s this?” the lady asked.
“This is Anne,” Joseph said. “Anne, this is Petunia Loftus. She’s one of my clients at work.”
“Anne you look absolutely beautiful,” Petunia gushed. “This one’s a keeper, Joseph. Her legs just go on and on and-“
“Thank you, Petunia,” Joseph cut off.
“I was only paying a compliment, Joseph!”
Joseph leaned towards me. “Sorry about this,” he murmured in my ear.
“It’s fine,” I whispered back.
“Now, Anne,” the lady continued loudly. “You’ve got to take good care of Joseph for me, okay? He’s a good young man. I mean, even the other day he…”
I allowed myself to zone out as she described some business deal that Joseph’s company had made with her husband. I scanned the crowd absently, searching for anything unusual. My gaze focussed on a head of messy black hair, overgrown amongst the short hairdos of the other men. I peered closer, trying to figure it out. Could it be…?
The crowd parted for a second and I saw the figure fully. It was Hunter, in a suit and all. He was looking around the room with the same searching intensity as I was, and his gaze was about to sweep where I was standing.
I wasn’t ready to talk to Hunter; no matter what advice Claire had given me. Her words still echoed in my mind: Talk to those hunters.
I grabbed tightly onto Joseph’s arm. “I’m so sorry to interrupt you, Petunia, but I really need to tell Joseph something important,” I said hurriedly.
“Oh, that’s quite okay, dear,” she said, looking a bit confused. She held up her wine glass, examining the small drops of wine that still lingered in it. Experimentally, she tipped it down into her mouth, the drops trailing down the sides of the glass at an excruciatingly slow pace.
I didn’t wait much longer, dragging Joseph away by his arm. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Hunter was looking straight at Petunia, at the place where we had just been. He was looking around the room again, trying to see where I had gone.
“Anne, what are you doing?” Joseph demanded.
I turned away from Hunter, looping my arms around Joseph’s neck and stretching up on my tiptoes to kiss him. Let Hunter see this, I thought. He wouldn’t look at us twice. He’d never anticipate that I would be clinging on to a shifter and kissing him like my life depended on it. By being obvious, I’d made myself completely invisible to him.
After a few moments, I pulled away from Joseph.
“What was that for?” he asked me, smiling slightly.
“Oh, you know…” I said, looking down as if I was abashed.
“You look beautiful tonight,” he murmured, his eyes fixed on me.
Not this again.
I smiled up at him.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your fun, but I need a word with you Joseph,” someone said, so close to us that I nearly jumped back in shock.
I looked to the side. It was Zane Richards, the same vampire whose coven I’d found a few days ago, and he didn’t look too pleased.
“Actually, I’m not sorry. I need to talk to you, Lloyd. Right now.”
“Then talk,” Joseph said calmly, his arm reaching around my waist.
“Are you sure you want to discuss this here?”
“Stop by my office tomorrow and we can talk then.”
“No deal,” Zane growled. “It’s been three days, Lloyd, and no progress has been made. I want to see something happen or I’m going to get even more angry.”
“I’ve got my best people on the job,” Joseph replied. “We’re doing all we can to resolve the issue.”
“The issue?” Zane said, raising his voice. A few people turned towards us to see what the commotion was about. “This isn’t just an issue. Some of my best men are dead, and a few of your own as well. I want to catch the bastards who did this.”
Joseph glanced at me. I tried to keep my expression neutral. I didn’t know how I was supposed to react – should I run screaming out of the room or maybe just question what was happening?
“We’re not going to talk about this now,” Joseph said calmly.
“I don’t fucking care about what she knows,” Zane hissed. “It makes no difference to me what she knows and what she doesn’t. What’s it to me if she gets killed?”
“Joseph?” I said, in what I hoped was a shaky voice. I tried to see the whole situation from the shoes of Anne the oblivious girlfriend, who had just found out that Joseph had been taking part in all sorts of things that would likely get me, and several others already, killed. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing to worry about, darling,” Joseph said quickly. “You should go, though. I’ve got something to discuss with Mr Richards.”
Zane smiled, his fangs just visible. “You better be ready to discuss this, Lloyd. Because if you’re not willing I’m sure that I could pay blondie here a visit. She looks especially…” he paused, licking his lips purposely, “scrumptious tonight.”
Joseph let go of my arm, pushing me away slightly. I had already taken a step back. “Just go, Anne. Okay? I’ll catch up with you later.”
Without another word, I turned heel and walked quickly away from the two.
My heart was beating rapidly, threatening to burst out of my chest, but it wasn’t because of Zane’s threats. The vampires were out looking for me, and sooner or later they were going to find me. How long would it take for on of them to recognise me as one of the people there that night, or identify Luna as the were who’d been there too? What if they already knew about Hunter?
I didn’t think. I automatically veered towards the doors, bursting out into the cool fresh air. Just as Joseph had predicted, snow was beginning to flurry around in the air. It wasn’t settling yet, but it was only a matter of time till it covered the whole of New York like a thick blanket. The last thin layer of snow that had settled had melted or been cleared away with an amazing efficiency, yet I had a feeling that this one was going to be different.
I leant on the rails, breathing heavily.
I wondered if Zane would follow up on his promise to Joseph, and if Joseph would really care.
Then again, if Zane did come for me I knew what to do. Maybe I’d be able to get some information out of him. After all, the leader of a whole coven of vampires was bound to know something. I’d rather wait until after his meeting with the other covens though…
My shoulders sagged in a sigh. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to calm down my mind. Too many thoughts were frantically spinning around.
“Fancy seeing you here,” someone said from behind.
“Go away, Hunter,” I groaned, not turning around.
Hunter leant on the railings next to me, staring off into the distance. He was dressed in a suit, looking more put-together than I had ever seen him – it seemed wrong to see him like this, as if he didn’t quite belong.
“Not until you tell me why you’re here,” he said.
“No doubt you already know, since you’re here as well.”
“Why do you insist on thinking that everything is about you, sunshine?” Hunter asked. “I was actually here to scout out a few prominent supernaturals and find out how to get to them.”
“Any luck in that?”
Instead of answering, he fished a lighter and a box of cigarettes out of his pocket. His put one in his mouth. “A bit,” he finally said, lighting the end.
“You still smoke?”
“Why would I stop?” he asked, blowing smoke out of his mouth.
“Because you’re going to die.”
He shrugged. “I will at some point, anyway.”
I took the cigarette out of his mouth, flinging it away. We watched it spiral downwards, the alight end marking its progress as it plummeted down. A trail of smoke followed.
“What did you do that for?” he demanded.
“Your own good,” I said. “Now, do you want to tell me more about what you found?”
He sighed. “I thought you didn’t want my help.”
“I don’t. I’m just curious to see what you think you’ve found out.”
“You think that you know more?”
I laughed. “Oh, I know thatI know more.”
“Okay. So I’ve found a few of the important ones,” Hunter started. “There’s this vampire called Zane who’s important in some way, and another called Pamela Robinson who’s been in the city for a few days. Then, of course, there’s the guy who organised this whole thing. It wasn’t hard to find out about him. He’s called Joseph Lloyd and he’s a full shape shifter, very powerful inside and outside the supernatural world.”
“Nothing that I didn’t already know,” I said, smiling. “The vampire’s full name is Zane Richards, he’s the one who heads the coven whose hideout we were at the other night. He’s on the hunt for whoever broke in, by the way. Pamela is probably another coven leader, which means that more vampires are entering the city. Joseph Lloyd is exactly what you say he is – he’s powerful and absolutely deadly, and he’s majorly involved in the vampires’ plans, except he only plays a part in this whole thing. I’ve told you before, Edric Hardy and his other cronies are more prominent.”
Hunter looked at me. “You said that you had your sources the other night, but how the hell do you know this much?”
“That’s something I’m not going to tell you,” I said firmly. “Now, what did you find out about getting to them? Any luck there?”
“Zane and Pamela have been keeping to themselves, but Joseph Lloyd has a girlfriend.”
“Is that so?”
“From what people say, she’s nothing special. I think that I’d be able to get some information out of her easily if I could pin her down. I saw her clinging to Joseph a few minutes ago. I couldn’t see much of her, but from what I saw she did look good.”
I smiled slightly. “Oh really?”
“Yeah,” Hunter said. “Do you know anything about her?”
“I know that you’re not going to be able to seduce her,” I replied.
Hunter raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“Because she’ll see right through you.”
“And how do you know this?”
“Personal experience. I believe me and his girlfriend would see eye to eye on this one.”
“I think that you’re overestimating this girl.”
I looked up at him, my hands clenching the rails. “And I think that you’re underestimating her,” I said through gritted teeth. It was ridiculous to be getting angry at this. If Hunter thought that Joseph’s girlfriend was a clueless idiot then it meant that my act was working, but it still rubbed me the wrong way.
“Why are you so hung up on this?”
I took a step back. “I’m not.”
Hunter stepped towards me again, gripping my arm. “Yes you are. There’s something you’re not telling me, Anne.”
I wrenched my arm away. “No there isn’t.”
“Yes there is. What are you hiding? Is she your source?”
“Of course not!”
A shadow loomed over us, breaking the debate. I looked up to see the intimidating form of Joseph’s bodyguard, Scott. His face was set in a frown.
“Is everything okay, Miss Callison?” he said. It was the first time that I’d heard him speak, and his voice was as scary as his appearance.
“Actually I’m a-“ Hunter started.
I stamped on his toe.
“Yes, Scott. Everything’s fine.”
Scott eyed Hunter threateningly, his offensive stance angled towards him. “Is this man harassing you? Because I can kick him out.”
“No. He’s an old friend,” I said, hardly knowing why. Surely it would be easier to get rid of Hunter. But Claire’s advice kept on swimming in my thoughts and I knew that I was going to have to sort things out with the hunters sooner or later. Besides, kicking Hunter out would cause more trouble than I wanted, and Joseph would surely ask questions.
“Mr Lloyd is inside looking for you,” Scott said.
“Thank you, Scott. I’ll go find him now,” I replied calmly. “This man was just leaving.”
“I was?” asked Hunter, an amused lilt to his tone.
“You were.”
“Shall I tell Mr Lloyd where you are?”
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll find him myself.”
“Okay,” he said, nodding. He turned and went through the doors, slipping back into the crowd inside.
I sighed, slumping against the rails.
“Well, Miss Callison. That little episode was certainly illuminating.”
“Shut up,” I hissed.
“Tell me, since when did we become related? Or are you in fact Mrs Callison, and you’ve married my brother in secret?” Hunter said, his eyes glinting with mirth. “Mr Lloyd won’t be very pleased with that, mind you.”
“It was the first name that I thought of, okay?”
“I’m flattered.”
“Don’t you dare mention any of this. Do you know how long it’s taken me to get this far in?” I whispered angrily. “One slip up and it’s all for nothing.”
“I’m sure you value your boyfriend dearly, sunshine.”
“I’ve made more progress than you have,” I growled.
“Ah, yes. But to do so you’ve literally been sleeping with the enemy, though I bet he doesn’t know that.”
“Shut up.”
“I will if you do something for me.”
“What?” I said from between gritted teeth.
“Leave with me. Right now.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Yes you can. I want to take you to our headquarters, which will be a lot more interesting than sticking around here all night.”
“But Joseph-“
“Can do without his girlfriend for one night,” Hunter interjected. He shook his head. “To think I was planning to seduce information out of you.”
“I told you your plan wouldn’t work.”
“It still might,” he said, smiling slightly. He gripped my arms pulling me closer towards him so that there was no space in between us.
I stepped back immediately. “Cut it out, Hunter.”
“You’re no fun. You let Joseph do it, don’t you?”
“That’s different.”
“We could be friends with benefits.”
“Friends?”
“Okay, maybe that’s stretching it a bit too far.”
I sighed. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, Hunter, but I missed you.”
“Can’t say the same myself. I was a lot more relaxed before you came along. It’s been a while since I was chased through the streets of New York by a pack of angry werewolves after staking a few vampires.”
“Relaxing is boring.”
“But nice, occasionally.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“No,” Hunter laughed. “I don’t. Things were getting far too boring since we left you. Now come with me, we’re going to headquarters.”
Before I could protest, he had grabbed hold of my arm and was dragging me back into the room. He pulled me through the crowd, me stumbling along after him.
Just as we reached the door, I heard someone calling after me. “Anne! Wait a second!”
I managed to wrench my arm free from Hunter and turned around to see Joseph hurrying along. I quickly summoned up a smile. “Joseph,” I said. “I couldn’t find you.”
He reached me, a smile spreading across his face too. “Scott said you were outside, but I saw you heading this way so-“
“Yeah,” I said, interrupting him. “I was actually heading home. I’m really tired.”
“You can’t leave now,” Joseph said. “You’ve barely been here an hour.”
I let out a yawn, covering my mouth. “I’m sorry, I just really need to get home.”
Joseph’s eyes flickered to the man behind me, as if he was seeing Hunter for the first time. “Who’s this?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.
Hunter stepped forward before I could speak, extending out his hand. “I’m Hunter Forbes, an old friend of Anne’s. We knew each other at school.” His gaze met mine for a second; an amused look in his eyes that said two can play at that game.
“Pleased to meet you, Hunter,” Joseph said, taking his hand and shaking. “I guess that explains your accent if you’re not from round here either. I’m Joseph Lloyd, Anne’s boyfriend. Though I’ve no doubt that she’s already mentioned me.”
“She hasn’t, actually,” Hunter said, a smile hovering on his lips.
I stepped in quickly, letting out a nervous laugh. “I only just saw Hunter a few minutes ago. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
“What brings you to New York, Hunter?” Joseph asked, his eyes still narrowed.
“I’m doing a bit of sightseeing, really. I had no idea that Anne was in the city before I saw her here.”
“And are you leaving too?” He was definitely suspicious.
“Hunter offered to drop me back home,” I said before Hunter could interject. “I’ve had a few drinks, and I don’t think that it’d be wise for me to try taking the subway, especially at this time of night.” I smiled ruefully.
“What about Luna?”
I giggled. “I think she left with that guy she was talking to.”
Joseph frowned. It looked like he was going to have a word with Luna about her task of watching over me. “You can take my car. My driver’s not going anywhere tonight and I’m sure he’d be happy to drive you back.”
“It’s fine. I really don’t want to trouble you. Hunter can drive me. I’m so tired that I’ll probably just fall asleep on the way home, anyway.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“I’ll take good care of her,” Hunter said.
“You better,” Joseph replied icily. He looped his arm around me, pulling me close and leaning down to plant a quick kiss on my lips. “Let me know if there’s any trouble, okay?” he murmured to me.
I nodded, pulling myself away from him. “See you soon?”
“I’ll call you, but if I don’t see you before Sunday, have a good Christmas.”
“You too,” I said, smiling.
I turned away from him, walking towards the exit with Hunter trailing behind me.
“It’s sickening how you act around him, you know?”
“Shut up.”
“I mean it,” Hunter said, shaking his head disbelievingly. “Seeing you so… nice. It’s wrong.”
I pressed the button to the elevator and the doors slid open instantly. We both stepped inside. The doors slid closed in front of us and we left the party behind.