September 11 | Evening
Unraveling, I slammed against walls of blue-green glass. I threw myself at the barrier harder and harder, but every attempt to pass through or teleport out failed. Suddenly, I looked down at myself and discovered I couldn't even see my body! I was nonexistent.
A startled outcry burst from my lungs. I couldn't hear it. I had no voice. I clamped a hand over my throat in horror and realized I didn't feel the touch. Savage. I backed away in confusion—more an impression of movement than me actually taking a step. What the hell was happening to me?
There was no time to freak out. It was more important to know what was happening on the other side of the glass. I saw Mys wearing a stunned expression that morphed into one of jarring epiphany and then simmering fury. I strained to hear what was being said.
"I wish I could tell you this isn't personal, but we both know better," Tegan sneered.
My god. Zyr's partner was betraying us. I couldn't understand how she had deceived him so thoroughly. In a flash, Mys dropped to their knees. The doe-like eyes blinked once and stared, fixed. The gamine body hit the pine needles and didn't move again.
A choked whimper rattled me inside-out. I froze in utter disbelief, every part of me cold except the burning where my eyes should be. I screamed Mys' name. Banging and striking the walls of the prison that encased me, I screamed until my phantom throat was raw. It was no use. I couldn't do anything to help. I slid to my knees like the invisible tears rolling down my absent face.
Tegan, the traitorous monster, didn't linger over the scene of her gruesome crime. She took off through the woods with the bottle imprisoning me.
Mired in stunned despair, I only realized we reached her car when I heard the door slam. We were off, but the drive was a blur. All I could think about was Zyr and Mys. Tegan had taken one of them from me. I didn't know what had happened to the other, but I was certain I would never see my lovers again. It was like dying twice.
I went numb. I didn't notice evening was falling outside until we stopped at the old convenience store. Through my glass prison, I saw the cashier that Zyr and I had met the day prior. She was smoking a cigarette near the double-doors. The thought of Zyr's efforts yesterday to get me to like his undeserving partner Tegan replayed in my head, and I forgot about the store attendant.
Tegan held the bottle near her face. "I don't know what you are," she murmured, "but I know you're not Aurelia Edison. Even though you managed to convince Zyr otherwise, I had to get you away from him...I just wish there was a better way." Her lips tightened as if she sincerely felt remorse. I wondered what the hell she was talking about, but the question faded when I saw who she was there to meet.
Tegan, what did you do? I tried to ask.
Beneath a darkening sky studded with the first specks of stars, Darcy Cyprian stepped out of his familiar black Rolls Royce. He was in his usual dapper suit with perfectly coiffed blond hair as if he had stepped straight out of a photo shoot for GQ magazine. Aside from his polished appearance, the vampire was fully in his element against the backdrop of shadowy wilderness.
He caught the attention of the cashier. The woman seemed rattled by his presence, and she didn't even know what he was. She hurried into the store, locking the door behind her.
It took effort for me not to descend into panic when Tegan handed the bottle with me in it to Darcy. His icy fingers wrapped around the glass and seemed to caress me in ways I didn't want to be touched. I cowered as he removed the cork.
"Ma louloute?" he purred.
I had no choice. My Soul came spilling from the vessel like a genie. Sucking in air, I prepared to flee—by teleportation or some other disappearing act—but Darcy jerked my hand over the bottle, and I was back in the glass prison faster than I could say, "It's Aurie, you bloodsucking motherfucker!"
"There you are. No running from me tonight," he grinned as his gaze shifted to Tegan. "Thank you for your service, Detective Stoney. What about the cold case files?"
"Destroyed," she said. "I got rid of everything this morning when your nosy ghost was having a lazy soak in the tub. Not something I'd imagine a ghost doing, but I thought you might like that detail. I know how much you enjoy naked, vulnerable young things." Her tone was derisive; Darcy wasn't amused.
"Have a care, my pet. You're not talking to one of your piece of shit love interests," he said with quiet menace and a saccharine smile.
"I'm sure you think I should feel insulted, but I deeply approve of you staying the fuck out of my love life. Now, I've held up my end of the bargain. Do your part," she fired back.
"What about the tranny? I can't have anyone knowing about this."
Tegan flipped her hair in obvious annoyance. "She is on a wild goose chase hunting down a list of victims I made up. I never gave her the actual case files. So, you don't have to worry about her. Are we done here? Call them off."
Darcy Cyprian gestured to his driver. The chauffeur stepped away to place a phone call I couldn't hear. At the end of it, he nodded to Darcy, who spread his hands obsequiously for Tegan. "Your esteemed partner is no longer a fugitive," the vampire promised. "In your world or mine. It'll take a few hours for the paperwork to go through, but that's only to keep him preoccupied while we make our getaway."
"We?" Tegan arched a brow.
"Yes, step lively, Detective Stoney. We're not returning to New Orleans tonight. I extend to you my hospitality and bid you enjoy my country estate in Ponchatoula while I wrap up some business. I'm gonna see a man about a dog." He pointed for Tegan to get in his car, but she balked.
"That wasn't part of our agreement. I only did this to get Zyr out of your clutches. I'm going home."
"Come, now." Darcy wriggled his fingers playfully, reaching for the woman bending away from him. He got a firm grasp of her shoulder and shoved her into the vehicle. "We both know that's not the only reason you came here," he said as the car door slammed. "You came to clear your name."
Tegan threw herself at the opposite door. I knew how she felt. She couldn't get out. Unlike me, she couldn't even see past the opaque windows of her new prison. The detective whipped around to face Darcy. He gave her a cool stare as he poured himself a cocktail.
"I've paid penance, alright? I made sure the boy they were trying to charge—the stalker—will only get stuck with the crime he committed—breaking the R.O. I even started volunteering," her voice quavered. "But what happened to Aurie that night was a terrible accident that wouldn't have occurred if you hadn't drugged her. I've kept your secret, Mr. Cyprian. Let me go."
As he stared at the ceiling of the car, he sipped his drink and shrugged. "That's not the way I see it. The way I see it, none of this would have happened if you hadn't been drinking and driving in front of Century Luxe that night, Detective."
I shuddered in dismay. That was why Tegan's face had seemed familiar to me? Zyr's partner had lied, schemed, and apparently killed me. However, I didn't wish Darcy on anyone. As the Rolls Royce took off, Tegan whimpered and tried the door again. It wouldn't open. She squeezed her neat frame into the corner of the car and faced the vampire, who I now realized was blackmailing her.
"Mr. Cyprian, I stopped drinking," she reminded him.
"And I am so proud of you." He casually dropped a hand on her knee.
The detective pulled her firearm. Two rapid retorts. The blasts were deafening. The leather and cognac interior of the car burned with the acrid smell of gunpowder.
When the smoke faded, Tegan emitted a horrified scream as she backpedaled against the seat. Her eyes were fixed on the black, smoking holes in Darcy Cyprian's chest. The wounds sealed inward, the last puff of smoke getting swallowed into the holes and no evidence remaining except the rents in his shirt.
"I need to go home! Please, I want to go home!" Tegan pleaded.
Darcy shook his head, bemused, as he dusted his crisp black shirt. "That was unnecessary, but I'm glad we got it out of the way. Your skepticism is a thing of wonder. What did you expect when you heard you were dealing with a vampire, my pet?
"I prefer no one know my involvement in this. Unfortunately, you're someone, Detective Stoney," he went on. "I'm willing to keep you alive if you stay in line, but try another stunt, and you'll be dinner." He picked his teeth with a long fingernail. It was exactly as cringeworthy as a B-movie villain—so much more disturbing because Darcy was believable.
"I'm in law enforcement," Tegan sniffled and scrubbed her face. She sat up straighter, her expression hardening. "I knew the moment you got me in this car, my chances of survival plummeted."
"Au contraire. Aurie can vouch for my honesty. You have my word that tomorrow you can go back to busting bad guys with an unblemished record. I've already made the car you were driving disappear. After this, no one will know you were at the hotel that night, drinking because you spied your worthless ex going in with a coed. Most importantly, no one will find out you killed Aurie Edison."
"It wasn't like that," Tegan managed.
"No, no, no! Of course, not," Darcy condescended, patting her knee again.
Tegan sank into miserable silence.
I tried to piece together everything I had learned. Tegan had been at the hotel the night of my death, spying on her boyfriend. That sounded exactly like her. Deadass. Ironically, she had been the one drinking when she'd assumed I had too much. Upon telling her I had been drugged, the woman I thought was my savior had asked me to wait while she got her car. Somehow in my disoriented state, I had stumbled into the street.
Just like that...
I never saw what hit me, but it was Tegan Stoney. So, what was I doing in Darcy Cyprian's hands?