Chapter 21

Night had fallen and my head was pounding.

“Can I get you anything?” I shouted to Killian in the other room as I put my cup underneath the faucet. Sobering while I was still awake was my least favorite feeling.

Coming out of the haze, though, made me look twice at the shadow that danced across my lawn. Ah, it was so good to be home. I pulled my gun out of the kitchen island.

“Killian! We’ve got company!”

I shut off the lights. If they were nasties, lights wouldn’t be the thing keeping them in or out. If they weren’t nasties, I was going to take any advantage I could grab hold of.

“What do you see?” he whispered at my elbow. He had ditched his staff in favor of a crossbow. Excellent choice.

“Something is moving out there in the dark.”

Another shadow flitted across the lawn, coming closer to the house stealthily. I could now rule out the neighbor’s cat.

I stretched my fingers, trying not to let the heady rush of adrenaline make me shoot till I saw the reds of their eyes.

“Why do you look like you are enjoying this?” asked Killian.

“Better than a cup of coffee to wake a girl up.”

“Remind me never to wake you up.”

“Done.”

Now something dropped silently out of a tree and into the yard.

“Okay, so that makes three. Goll, why do they always have to attack on the new moon?”

“Avoiding the reflection of the sun…?”

“It was rhetorical.”

“Sorry.”

“Okay, you can cover the front, garage, and back door if you stand where I am here in the kitchen,” I said. “I’m going upstairs to check the windows.”

He gave me a nod and I made my way in a low crouch to the stairs.

From the second floor, I counted five vamps surrounding the house. Vampires are nasty, but the good thing about the Other Side is that homes are protected against this sort of thing. I holstered my gun and walked downstairs.

“Just vamps.”

Killian relaxed, “Good.”

I started laughing, “Don’t you love it when it’s ‘just vampires’?”

Killian gave a rueful chuckle, “Yes.”

Suddenly I heard a voice calling loudly, “Maggie! Maggie MacKay! We bring a message for you.”

I took a second to think it through, but decided it was probably worth it for me to find out what they were doing here. I jerked my head towards the backdoor.

Killian raised his crossbow, “After you, milady.”

I opened my door, but left my screen door closed. Technically, the threshold of my home should have held at the porch steps, but flying projectiles don’t have the restrictions of thresholds and I wasn’t going to expose myself any more than I had to.

“What do you want, vampire?”

“Come out and talk?”

“Don’t insult me.”

“Or you could let us come in to you.”

“Or I could shut the door and spend the rest of the night reading a good book. I’m standing here listening, which is more than your undead ass deserves.”

“We bring a message of peace.”

“Right.”

“We could go get some associates of ours that are not bound by the sanctity of your home.”

“Would you quit the pissing competition and tell me what it is you need to tell me? I’ve got a bathtub that needs scrubbing.”

“You were looking for answers at the Wagon and Cock this evening…”

My ears pricked up, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The man you spoke with is already dead for the information he shared.”

Crap. I never meant to get anyone killed. I didn’t want to get anyone killed by a vampire. I rubbed my neckguard. I knew what that fate felt like.

“If I was talking to someone, and I’m not saying I was, what concern of it is yours?”

I heard the vampires hissing at each other there in the darkness before coming to silent agreement, “The night has ears...”

I was going to have to go out. I owed the dead Lars that much. I turned to Killian and he could evidently see the decision on my face. One didn’t get very far in the tracking business if one wasn’t willing to take chances. You also didn’t get very far if you were a blithering fool. I went over to my coat closet and pulled out some Kevlar.

Killian straightened my vest in a very proprietary way and laid his hands on my neckguard, “If the vampires attempt an attack, I shall, as you would say, ‘drop them’ before they can get past this, my partner.”

I gave him a grim nod and then stepped out of the house. Killian’s crossbow was trained on the leader. I walked to the corner of the porch.

“What?” I asked.

The leader walked forward, “We are… grateful… for your willingness to meet with us.”

“I wouldn’t call this willingness.”

“We need you to create a portal for us.”

I laughed, “Oh, you vampires are rich…”

“Yes, we are.”

And that was when he dropped a sack of money that was filled with probably ten years worth of my salaries in one burlap wrapped sum.

I looked at him in disbelief, “You’ve got some talking to do.”

“We need you to build a portal.”

“Yah, that’s why god invented the legal channels. It’ll save you a whole bunch of dough.”

“The ‘legal’ channels are being monitored by our master. It is how we have known when you left the Other Side and when you returned. We know things about your uncle.”

“What do you know about my uncle?” I asked sharply.

“He has promised a harvest of humans from Earth.”

My uncle was sounding like a better and better guy every time I learned something new about him. I could see why my dad decided to strand him on Earth.

“Listen, if you’re bent out of shape because my uncle broke some promise about an all-you-can-eat human buffet and think I’m going to build you some interdimensional drive-thru window, you’re barking up the wrong crazy tree, Mr. Crazy.”

The vampire hissed in frustration, “You do not understand. He is working with the new master. We…” the vampire motioned to his associates, “do not subscribe to Vaclav’s views and wish to disrupt the flow.”

“And which views exactly is it that you don’t subscribe to?”

“The humans are not being captured to feed our clan. They are being turned to grow our numbers. Vaclav seeks to collapse the boundary between worlds. To do so puts us all at risk. It is not sustainable. We have information that if delivered tonight could put an end to this plan.”

“So you magically show up on my doorstep, just a bunch of secret spy vampires, and want me to open up a portal so that you can head over to Earth and put an end to your master’s greedy ways? I haven’t heard a story that lame since I quit babysitting teenagers.”

“You are our only hope.”

“Go home. I don’t work with vampires.”

And with that, I turned and walked to the house.

“We will be dead by tomorrow,” said the leader vampire.

“And why should I care?”

“Our master believes your uncle is his partner and weakens the barrier for a common cause. But your uncle is plotting his own war. Both sides will destroy each other if the barrier comes down. Pier 67 holds the answers. You must go there tomorrow.”

“Why?” I asked, barely looking over my shoulder.

“A jade artifact will be brought in to help transport our kind between the two worlds. It is in the shape of a Chinese lion. You must protect it from your uncle and our master.”

I gave a shrug, “I’ll check it out.”

“Maggie MacKay, do not be a fool. We come here knowing the risk, knowing to do so would seal our doom. Listen to what we are saying to you.”

I spun, “No, you listen to me, vamp. I’ve fallen for your people’s goodwill more than once. This isn’t the first time I have been approached on a matter of direst consequence. I listened to your lies once and it almost got me killed. I will look into your ridiculous jade lion and if I find there is some merit to what you say, I will handle it. But don’t you dare come marching into my backyard, telling me you need a portal and then try to play the guilt card on me. I’m not playing. I know your kind.”

I walked back into the house and slammed the door behind me, stopping to lean against the kitchen island and catch my breath.

Killian’s gentle hand was at my waist. I probably should have shaken him off, but sometimes even someone like me just needs to know someone cares.

He pulled me close to him and I leaned against is broad chest. He rested his cheek upon the top of my head.

“Why does it always have to be vampires?” I muttered into his shirt.

“There, there. We bagged a ghoul. It is not always vampires.”

Thank god for elves.