Thirst (7 page)

I took a quick
shower before heading into the kitchen. Peter and Carl were both
sitting on the sofa eating sloppy breakfast rolls in
silence.

“One on the
counter for you,” Peter said, his mouth full.

I glared at him
suspiciously, but he seemed in good form, so I figured it was worth
trying out the food. I was pretty hungry, even with the chain
around my neck. The food looked greasy but tasted delicious. Peter
raised an eyebrow as I wolfed it down.

“Quick
metabolism,” I told him, my cheeks flushing pink. I had always had
a huge appetite. When I was a kid, my grandmother went through a
phase of trying to starve the demon out of me. It didn’t work. I
got so hungry that I bit a kid in school. My fangs hadn’t grown yet
but it scared her and she went back to feeding me
properly.

“Why you here so
early, anyhow?” I asked Peter after a few minutes, breaking the
awkward silence.

Peter crushed the
greasy wrapper from his food and stood to throw it into the
bin.

“Figured we need
some sort of plan before we go storming vampire bars,” he
replied.

“So how are we
working the bar?”

He sat back down
next to Carl, who had fallen asleep again.

“Think he’s
okay?” Peter asked in concern.

I shrugged.
“Can’t be great. He nods off a lot. I sort of ordered him to take
care of his needs, didn’t mean it quite like this.”

To my surprise,
Peter laughed out loud. “What?” I asked.

“If he starts
taking care of all of his needs in public, I’m holding you
responsible,” he said, waiting for me to catch on.

My cheeks burned
with embarrassment as it dawned on me what kind of needs he was
talking about. Peter laughed heartily again at my
expression.

“Don’t be
twelve,” I said, trying to look serious.

“Okay, okay,” he
said, making an attempt at sobering up. “So, he does whatever you
tell him?”

“Just about,” I
said.

“I wonder if he
understands what’s going on. Must be awful to have no say in
anything you do.” Peter grimaced in disgust. Then he caught my
stare, and a glimmer of regret flashed across his face.

“So, yeah, the
bar,” he said. “I know a girl who works there. Where did you find
Carl?”

“An alleyway off
Herbert Street.” I could never forget that detail.

“We can ask her
who hunts there. It would help if you can describe the
vamp.”

“That’s it? We
ask some girl and go home?” I said, unconvinced that counted as a
plan.

“Pretty much. If
we let it be known we’re looking for him then he might not be as
pissed off at us when we confront him,” Peter said.

“Seriously, is
that all we’re doing? Doesn’t seem like much of an effort. I mean,
she might not even know who we’re on about.” It sounded like he was
looking for an easy, happy ending. I couldn’t see that happening.
Not with my luck.

“Who knows? It’s
possible she might not know who we’re talking about, ‘cept this
chick knows everyone.”

“Can she be
trusted?” I didn’t like the sound of a human who knew so much about
vampires.

“Nah.” Peter
relaxed; talking about things he knew for certain seemed to make
him more comfortable around me. “She works with vampires and lives,
she’s gotta be up to something dodgy somewhere. She’s no worse than
anyone else, but she’s a little too fond of vamps, if you know what
I mean.”

I didn’t. “Don’t
you trust anyone?”

“Not even for a
second.”

I shivered at the
cold glint in his eye. I was supposed to be the monster, but Peter
was scarily black and white. “What happened to you?” I blurted out,
unable to help myself.

He cleared his
throat and stood up abruptly. “Wake up sleepyhead over there, and
let’s get going. I want to catch Becca when she opens the
bar.”

That was it.
Conversation over. Even on the way to the bar, Peter was deadly
silent. It was across town so we got a taxi. He decided he had to
sit in the back, squashing me between himself and Carl. It was
awkward, packed up that tightly with two men, particularly after
being alone for so long.

Now that the
thirst itself was subdued, thanks to the cross Eddie had given me,
other unwanted feelings came to the surface. Even the pressure from
Peter’s leg against mine made my whole body heat up. By the time we
got out of the taxi, I was practically having hot
flushes.

A flood of
traumatic memories hit me when I took in our surroundings. It had
been a long time, but I had been there before. A fancy restaurant
stood across the street, but I knew it had once been a small
community hall. One frequented by a so-called cleanser who had
encouraged my grandmother to let him beat the devil out of me. I
hugged my arms close to me, trying to block out the
past.

“You know that
place?” Peter asked when he noticed me staring.

“Once upon a
time. When it was something else.”

I couldn’t take
my eyes off the restaurant, but all I saw was my grandmother
telling a strange man I had a demon in me. I begged her not to
leave me with him, even then I could smell the badness coming from
him, but she pushed me aside and walked away—even as I called her
name.

Carl linked my
arm, distilling the memory and giving me an excuse to look away
from a place that had haunted my early teens. As if he knew I
needed reassurance, he smiled down at me, his eyes clear and
focused for a change. I smiled back automatically, wondering when I
had started looking people in the eye again. Peter caught my
attention as if he wanted to say something but shrugged instead and
led us to a decrepit looking building at the end of the
street.

“Doesn’t look
like a bar to me,” I remarked.

“It can’t, or
else every human in the area would be in there, plus all the
under-aged kids. Nightmare. The only ones who are welcome are vamps
and their volunteers, but Becca knows me so we’ll be okay as long
as we don’t start anything.”

I grimaced at the
term, volunteers. I might thirst after a bit of blood now and then,
but the thought of regularly taking advantage of people like Carl
made me feel ill.

“The real
entrance is down that side street,” Peter continued, pointing
ahead. “Let’s go, and let me do the talking. I’m not exactly
popular around here, but they’ll listen to me. Keep the giant
quiet.”

I took a tight
hold of Carl’s arm and followed Peter around a laneway that led to
what should have been the back of the so-called bar. It smelled
rank and was covered in colourful graffiti. I lingered behind, full
of nerves, but Peter strode ahead with confidence. I couldn’t help
but watch him admiringly. I was sure he had once been charming, and
I wondered what had happened to make him so cold.

A short blonde
exited a doorway and threw a black sack into one of the bins ahead
of us. Peter headed directly to her, and I guessed she was the
infamous Becca. She had the body of a teenager, but when she
turned, I was shocked to see that her face hadn’t aged nearly as
well.

“Hey, Petey,” she
squealed in a little girl’s voice. “Haven’t seen you for a while,
where you been?”

She hugged him
tightly, fitting easily under his chin. Glancing at Carl and me,
she sent a dark look my way. I tensed up—she didn’t smell entirely
human.

“How are you,
Becca?” Peter asked.

“I’m as fine as
always, can’t you see?” She giggled loudly at her own joke. I
gripped Carl’s arm tight, all of my instincts warning me to be
cautious. Carl’s body had tensed too, which only heightened my own
wariness.

“Of course I can,
hot stuff. Listen, I need a favour,” Peter told her. I hadn’t seen
this side of Peter before and wondered how sincere he was
being.

“Oh, yeah? Wanna
come in and have a quick one? A drink I mean,” she said, her
eyelashes fluttering like mad.

“Yeah, I’m
thirsty as hell. Listen, this is Ava and Carl. Okay if they join
us?”

Becca looked us
over, her mouth widening into a smile that never reached her lips.
“Double date? No problem. Come on, before the cleaners get
here.”

We followed her
through a small door that led into a huge dark room. As my sight
adjusted, I saw the walls were all dark wood panelling. The air was
filled with must and dust, and the faint scent of blood—cleaned up
blood. I shuddered and let Carl pull me toward the bar. Becca gave
Peter a shot without asking before turning to Carl and
me.

“What can I get
you two lovebirds?”

“Uh, just juice
for us,” I said. “Please,” I added, trying to smile sweetly. Her
quizzical look convinced me I’d failed miserably.

“So,” she said as
she poured a drink for me—completely ignoring Carl, as if she knew
he wasn’t all there. “What can I do for you today?”

“We’re looking
for information on a vamp who hunts Herbert Street. You got any
idea who’s over there?” Peter asked.

She bit her lip
and looked thoughtful. I was certain she knew exactly who he meant,
but Peter waited patiently while she pretended to think really
hard.

“I’d say that
would have to be one of Max’s boys. I think that’s his territory.
What do you want with one of them?” Her tone was breezy, but her
body had tensed up, which made me suspicious. Her eyes drifted to
mine and narrowed briefly.

“Ah, that’s
complicated. I need to ask him something is all. Nothing major, no
hassle. Any way I could find out who exactly I’m looking
for?”

“With no name?
He’d have to be a regular here,” she said with a sly
smile.

She was obviously
stalling, which irritated me, so I butted in, hoping to annoy her
into talking properly.

“He’s small, very
thin, kinda pretty with chin-length dark hair. A little scruffy,
looks like he could use a good meal. Ring any bells?”

She glared at me,
and the look in her eyes grew so intense, her irises seemed to
darken and change before me. When she spoke again, her voice
suddenly sounded a lot more grownup. “That could be anyone,” she
snapped. Turning back to Peter, she smiled. “But it might be
Arthur; he’s been in talking about a redhead he saw. She the one?”
Her eyes turned greedy, and my stomach flipped over with
worry.

“Could be,” Peter
said with a shrug. “Any chance you could let Arthur know we need a
favour from him? We’ll be back around, once the place fills up a
bit.”

“Of course,
darling, anything for you. I’ll let Arthur know all about you. As
long as you aren’t going to bother Max,” Becca said, reaching out
and placing her hand on Peter’s arm.

“Nah, it’s
nothing to do with Maximus. No need to get him involved,” Peter
said, stretching languidly away from Becca’s touch. He seemed
relaxed, but I could hear his heart beat racing. “We only need
Arthur for ten minutes, tops.”

“Well, you take
care of him, okay? I don’t need Max to get angry and take it out on
me.” She gave a knowing laugh and touched her neck. It was covered
with a scarf. I really didn’t want to know what was under that
scarf.

“Don’t worry,
Bec. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

“Oh, I don’t want
to be safe, darling. You know that.” Her eyes darkened again until
I was sure they glinted red. She gave Carl a hungry look, and I
sincerely hoped I didn’t stare at him like that. She focused on me
again, and I involuntarily leaned backwards, wanting to get out of
the filthy pub and away from the freaky bartender.

“Thanks a lot,
Becca. Take care of yourself, we’ll be back later so don’t forget
to let Arthur know.” He smiled at her, but as soon as he turned
away, his face tightened, and he gestured toward the
door.

Becca waved us
off and got back to work but gave me one last filthy look as we
left. I gulped in fresh air outside, more than relieved to be out
of that place.

“What the hell is
she?” I hissed at Peter.

He gave me a
condescending look. “You’re one to talk.”

I felt a little
jab of hurt at being compared to Becca, then anger that I still
hadn’t proved myself in his eyes. Seeing my irritation, he carried
on. “Okay, she’s half gone. She was obsessed with being young and
somehow persuaded an old vampire to try and change her. It didn’t
work, obviously. Looks like they’re still trying.”

“How do you know
all this?”

“I
ask.”

“Okay, fine. So
she wants to be young or whatever. But what does the vampire get
out of it? I mean, I know he gets her blood, but he also has to
give his, right?”

Peter cocked his
head to the side. “That isn’t how it happens,” he said slowly.
“Vampires were only ever created through the poison in their saliva
and fangs. They don’t need to exchange blood to do it.”

I nodded, feeling
stupid. The books I’d read had said a blood exchange was necessary
to create a vampire.

He looked at me,
eyes full of curiosity. I waited for him to question me, but he let
it go.