know what we need to do.”
“Bullshit, Gabe,” Ghost butted in. “You’ve got no idea what you’re up against and you’ve got no clue what it is you’re doing. I worked with you for over 80 years. I know how you operate and this is your ‘we’re fucked, so let’s fire every bullet we have and hope something dies,’ frame of mind. You’re going to get yourself killed if you don’t sit down and draw up an actual plan.”
“Like what, Pup?”
He surged to his feet and bore down on me, grabbing me by the front of my jacket before I had time to blink and slammed me up against the wall, my feet dangling a good six inches off the ground. I saw stars as my head bounced off the steel wall and my spine creaked when I hit.
“Last time I’m gonna tell you, Gabe,” he growled, spittle flecking my cheeks. “Stop, calling me, Pup.”
“So, you are still alive,” I said, smiling through the rapidly diminishing pain as my body healed the minor bruises caused by my encounter with the wall.
“What’re you talking about?” he snarled.
“I was beginning to wonder if the hot head I grew up with had died and just left behind this paranoid shell that I found when I got here.”
“Paranoid?”
“Your security is ridiculous, dude,” I pointed out as he dropped me and stepped back. “You’ve got surveillance everywhere, bugged so many of the higher ups and for what? Have you been feeding information to anyone, or planning any campaigns or battles? You’ve been hiding out here for nearly thirty years and you haven’t done anything.”
“I don’t give a flying, chocolate, monkey fuck about saving the world, Gabe. I look after myself, and that’s all.”
“You used to look after me, old friend,” I said sadly. “Come on, Rachel. We’ve got a lot of ground to make up. Sorry I wasted your time coming here.”
I turned and made my way to the door, praying I’d hit the right nerve and hoping he’d stop us.
“Wait,” Ghost called, just as my hand touched the handle. I suppressed a grin and turned a cold glare towards The Ghost. “Come here, and sit your blood sucking ass down, old buddy. You win, I’ll help you out.” He grinned at me, the same wolfish grin I used to want to smack off his face so many times in the past when I knew he was seconds away from getting me sunk up to my eyebrows in trouble.
Tonight, it was the most welcome thing I’d seen in years.
12
???? Mexico: February 7, 2005
“So what’s the plan?” I asked about an hour later as we sat around a table in the kitchen. T-bone steaks and au gratin potatoes sat in front of us, with a bottle of Wild Turkey being passed around.
“Do you guys ever drink anything that you can’t set on fire?” Rachel asked as she looked at the bottle.
“Not if I can help it,” I said, still looking at Ghost. “So?”
“So, what?” he asked, already gnawing on the bone of his steak.
“The plan?”
“What plan?”
“Please do not force me to strangle you. It’d just waste our time and wouldn’t accomplish anything remotely useful,” I growled.
“Might make you feel better,” Rachel pointed out.
“Don’t tempt him,” Ghost shot at her. “I don’t need to have my larynx crushed this evening,” he took a sip of his bourbon. “And if I can’t speak I can’t outline the plan I’ve got.”
“Oh, so there actually is a plan?” I cut in. “You weren’t just blowing smoke up our skirts?”
“No, there is a plan,” Ghost muttered dryly. “Like I said I’ve been watching everybody in the upper echelons since… well, since Ireland. I’ve got surveillance on almost everyone. The only ones I haven’t been able to get close to would be Threnü himself and the other council members.”
He looked at me. “Do you even know where Threntü is?”
“Last I heard he’s never moved out of The Loft.”
Shadow Loft Mansion. Nearly the epitome of B Monster Movie vampire hangouts. A castle built on a highly defensible ridge in
“Bullshit, Gabe,” Ghost butted in. “You’ve got no idea what you’re up against and you’ve got no clue what it is you’re doing. I worked with you for over 80 years. I know how you operate and this is your ‘we’re fucked, so let’s fire every bullet we have and hope something dies,’ frame of mind. You’re going to get yourself killed if you don’t sit down and draw up an actual plan.”
“Like what, Pup?”
He surged to his feet and bore down on me, grabbing me by the front of my jacket before I had time to blink and slammed me up against the wall, my feet dangling a good six inches off the ground. I saw stars as my head bounced off the steel wall and my spine creaked when I hit.
“Last time I’m gonna tell you, Gabe,” he growled, spittle flecking my cheeks. “Stop, calling me, Pup.”
“So, you are still alive,” I said, smiling through the rapidly diminishing pain as my body healed the minor bruises caused by my encounter with the wall.
“What’re you talking about?” he snarled.
“I was beginning to wonder if the hot head I grew up with had died and just left behind this paranoid shell that I found when I got here.”
“Paranoid?”
“Your security is ridiculous, dude,” I pointed out as he dropped me and stepped back. “You’ve got surveillance everywhere, bugged so many of the higher ups and for what? Have you been feeding information to anyone, or planning any campaigns or battles? You’ve been hiding out here for nearly thirty years and you haven’t done anything.”
“I don’t give a flying, chocolate, monkey fuck about saving the world, Gabe. I look after myself, and that’s all.”
“You used to look after me, old friend,” I said sadly. “Come on, Rachel. We’ve got a lot of ground to make up. Sorry I wasted your time coming here.”
I turned and made my way to the door, praying I’d hit the right nerve and hoping he’d stop us.
“Wait,” Ghost called, just as my hand touched the handle. I suppressed a grin and turned a cold glare towards The Ghost. “Come here, and sit your blood sucking ass down, old buddy. You win, I’ll help you out.” He grinned at me, the same wolfish grin I used to want to smack off his face so many times in the past when I knew he was seconds away from getting me sunk up to my eyebrows in trouble.
Tonight, it was the most welcome thing I’d seen in years.
12
???? Mexico: February 7, 2005
“So what’s the plan?” I asked about an hour later as we sat around a table in the kitchen. T-bone steaks and au gratin potatoes sat in front of us, with a bottle of Wild Turkey being passed around.
“Do you guys ever drink anything that you can’t set on fire?” Rachel asked as she looked at the bottle.
“Not if I can help it,” I said, still looking at Ghost. “So?”
“So, what?” he asked, already gnawing on the bone of his steak.
“The plan?”
“What plan?”
“Please do not force me to strangle you. It’d just waste our time and wouldn’t accomplish anything remotely useful,” I growled.
“Might make you feel better,” Rachel pointed out.
“Don’t tempt him,” Ghost shot at her. “I don’t need to have my larynx crushed this evening,” he took a sip of his bourbon. “And if I can’t speak I can’t outline the plan I’ve got.”
“Oh, so there actually is a plan?” I cut in. “You weren’t just blowing smoke up our skirts?”
“No, there is a plan,” Ghost muttered dryly. “Like I said I’ve been watching everybody in the upper echelons since… well, since Ireland. I’ve got surveillance on almost everyone. The only ones I haven’t been able to get close to would be Threnü himself and the other council members.”
He looked at me. “Do you even know where Threntü is?”
“Last I heard he’s never moved out of The Loft.”
Shadow Loft Mansion. Nearly the epitome of B Monster Movie vampire hangouts. A castle built on a highly defensible ridge in
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