Chapter Six

Amara pulled into the large upscale community. An outsized, white gate surrounded the area to keep the houses locked securely inside. At least that’s what it was meant to do. Amara climbed one of the tall, luxurious pine trees of Ridgefair Estates.

The houses inside were all nearly identical. Large, white houses with tremendous windows to let in the sun. Of course, one of these houses would have to be different. Vampires and sunlight just didn’t mix.

Every house was set back away from the sidewalk on green grass lawns. Amara wondered how high the water bills must be here. She hoped they weren’t on a meter. She never remembered keeping her grass that green. She lived in an apartment since her family died.

At three in the morning, all the lights in the Estates were off, save for one house, with considerably smaller windows than the other homes. She stared at the house for a few moments and did a check of the outside. No cameras, no extra security. For a moment that alone deterred her. Surely, the vampire who works most closely with the Master of the City would have a secure home. As she approached the house, she felt the buzz of a different sort of protection.

A protection spell had been cast around the house to fend off intruders. The spell buzzed around her irritatingly, but so far no pain. It was like walking into a swarm of flies. Irritating, but not agonizing. Odds were that Jason would not block Alexander from his home, and, due to unfortunate circumstances, Amara’s aura was very similar to his. It was the one good thing he’d done for her.

Amara managed to open one of the windows on the lower level and crawl into the house. Any doubt that she had the right place washed away as soon as she was inside. The house was larger than it looked, but the amount of books on bookshelves made the living room claustrophobic. Amongst the large, dark, walnut bookshelves were a few scattered red-cushioned chairs. They looked old and made the entire room look antique. She walked across the mahogany floor quietly, carefully, and couldn’t help but think there was too much wood in that house. Jason had always been an avid reader in life. Why should that change once he died?

Finally, she came to a set of stairs winding up and around to the second floor. She traced her hand gently up the white banister as she made her way cautiously up the stairs. She snuck down the long hallway to the room where the light was on. The entire house was so quiet she could hear the cicadas’ gentle chirping outside. Amara readied her gun and took a step back to give herself some space. She took a deep breath and braced herself. Finally with a quick, powerful force, she kicked the door in.

Her gun was instantly pointed at the vampire. Jason looked up calmly from his large, overstuffed chair and put his book down in his lap. When he smiled at her, it reached his soft brown eyes. The warm smile caught Amara off guard for a moment. Jason was nothing if not sincere; she met him enough to know that.

“It’s nice ta’ see ya’ again, Amara,” Jason said as he closed the book. Jason was a small man, only five-eight at most. He was thin and just a tad lanky even for his short disposition. He looked so comfortable in his blue business shirt and black pants that Amara could have mistaken them for night clothes. Then again, for a vampire she supposed that anything could be “night clothes”.

“Cut it, Jason. You know I’m not here for pleasantries,” Amara snapped, the gun still held steady and positioned for Jason.

Amara tried to keep her composition, but the room made her a bit claustrophobic. It was more like a library than a business office. That seemed the theme for his entire house except for a few spaces where dull black filing cabinets rested against the blue walls. His desk sat directly in the middle of the room. Easy access she guessed. The vampire was completely at home.

“Yeah, I know,” the vampire sighed. “What is it that ya’ want?”

“Strangely enough, not something which involves hurting you if I don’t have to. I want a conference with Alexander.”

Jason barked a loud laugh. The sound echoed through the room as if the walls themselves mocked Amara.

“Then call,” he smirked as he suggested it. “Alexander never denies a request for conference.”

“No. I’ll be put on a waiting list for the next four years. I don’t have time. I want to meet with him tomorrow.”

Jason laughed again and got up. He shook his head in amusement. He wasn’t surprised when Amara followed him with the gun, but he didn’t seem bothered. He pulled a dark blue schedule book off the nearby desk and flipped through it.

“There’s no way he’d be able to see ya’ tomorrow. He’s booked solid.”

“You’re telling me he can’t take time out of his party life to help solve an ongoing murder case?”

“His ‘parties’ are more of a social obligation,” Jason started. “As for—”

“Social obligation?” Amara laughed, “Yes, he’s always looked so upset while he’s drinking and smoking marijuana with his buddies.”

“As for the murder case,” Jason continued without acknowledging Amara’s remark, “why would Alexander want ta dirty his hands with somethin’ like that?”

“He’s familiar with murder,” Amara snapped.

“What happened ta’ ya’ happened twenty years ago.” Jason sighed. “People were listening ta bad music and everyone had big hair. Let it go. People, even vampires, can change.”

“Let it go?” she shouted. “He killed my family and bound me to him so I couldn’t age. So I can’t die. He tortured them and left me there to find them when I woke up. Don’t try to convince me he’s any better than he was.”

“He was with Raina then. Your parents nearly killed her. He was in a rage, and she was screaming for retaliation.”

“So you’re trying to convince me Alexander was a puppet?” Amara’s voice held a sharp skepticism.

“I am,” he said calmly. “She controlled his entire life. Ya’ might be surprised what sorta’ person he is now.”

“Then tell him to sully his hands a little and help the city that he’s in charge of.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “If there’s a cancellation or an opening, I’ll see if I can squeeze ya’ in somewhere.”

“How about you just write me in now?” Amara‘s voice went dark with the unspoken threat. “Call Alex and tell him to meet me.”

“Or what? Ya’ gonna kill me?” Jason didn’t sound convinced.

“Worse,” she said lightly and fired the gun into his right thigh.

Jason dropped to the floor and cried out in pain as the bullet tore through his leg. It left a splatter of cherry red across the once-clean flooring and his neatly pressed clothes. He glared up at Amara angrily.

“Not much incentive to help ya,” he hissed through his teeth as he tried to grit through the pain.

“Really?” Amara‘s voice was light, almost nonchalant. “Maybe I can give you some more.” She fired the gun off into his shoulder, and Jason cried out again and threw his aura at her. It was a psychic attack, concentrating the energy around him into an almost physical force. Vampires like Alexander could knock people out or blow up a building. Jason was much younger though and much more inexperienced. Amara threw her own aura up as a shield and deflected the attack.

“His blood and mine, Jason,” Amara sneered. “You think I wouldn’t learn how to use it to my advantage? Call him,” she growled as she dragged Jason to his feet. “Tell him to make an opening and to call me, or I’m going to track his lackey down again, and he’ll be collecting pieces of him for weeks.”

She slammed Jason into the wall and punched him in the face. When he dropped to his knees again, he held his face in his hands. Amara started to walk away. She knew he would be healed by morning.

The bullets she used were normal. Of course, she kept silver bullets with her at all times, but Jason wasn’t a particularly dangerous vampire. It’s a little-known fact that vampires, like werewolves, have a natural allergy to silver. If it gets into their blood stream, it can be fatal. Keeping the silver bullets just gave her the advantage in both situations now. If it was a vampire, she was ready. If it was a werewolf, she was ready. He hadn’t been a very dangerous human either. The book-loving vampire normally kept to himself unless he was out looking for information for Alexander—and even then, he had a hard time in social situations, let alone battles.

What kept Jason alive all these years was that he worked closely with Alexander. Alex took a liking to Jason while he was human. When he became a vampire, Alexander hired him onto his team of employees, and Jason quickly worked his way up. No one could mess with him without answering to the head honcho. If hurting Jason would get his attention, that’s what Amara had to do.

“Had to”, she thought, as if she needed another reason to go vampire hunting.

“I’ll be waiting, Jason,” she called as she walked out the front door and back onto the street. Now she could go back to the hotel room and rest for a few hours before the angry phone call from Jason’s master rang in.