Chapter 21: Chapter Twenty-One

About an hour passed before we heard the sound of the large metal door sliding open. Everyone turned as Aaron walked in.

“Did you get anything from Geiser’s computer?” I asked, jumping up from the couch where we were all sitting.

Aaron strode over. “First things first,” he said, placing his cell phone on the table. “Listen to this.”

We all crowded forward as a male voice came from the speakers. “Heidi’s party is the perfect opportunity.”

“Who’s that?” Retta asked.

“Conrad,” I told her, thinking of the rake-thin Mage and his bold, shiny suits. “Geiser’s PR guy.”

We quietened again to listen to what he was saying.

“We’ll get some excellent press coverage and a wave of support from the parent demographic. And it won’t be strange to have the paparazzi there to capture the whole thing. Tomorrow evening would be the best. It’ll smooth over the bump of Vivian walking out, and the whole thing will be forgotten.”

“What are they talking about?” Cora asked, frowning.

“Sounds like Heidi’s egg-hatching ceremony,” I replied. “I guess they think Mom will cave and come back for it.”

“And score them some points with the family demographic,” Retta added in a wry tone.

“I thought the egg-hatching was a rite of passage for a Mage kid,” Cora said. “A private family thing rather than a media event.”

“It’s meant to be,” I told her. “For Geiser to turn Heidi’s into a publicity opportunity is pretty gross.”

The recording cut out.

Retta’s head snapped up to Aaron. “That’s all you got?” She sounded irritated. “Some stupid conversation about an egg party?”

Aaron frowned at her. “No. I also got this.” He produced a piece of paper from his pocket.

“What is it?” Cora asked.

“A contact,” Aaron explained. “Kevin Edward. Conrad and Geiser were talking about needing his help again. I figured he might be a henchman, or something. You know, like the one who tried to stab Theia last night? A lead. Maybe he can be convinced to turn Geiser in.”

Hope blossomed in my chest. “That’s great, Aaron,” I said, feeling buoyed for the first time in days.

I took the paper with the address on and folded it into the back pocket of my jeans, then I grabbed my jacket from where it was slung over the back of the couch. I didn’t want to waste even a second. If this Kevin guy was a henchman, then convincing him to talk might be a way to bring down Geiser.

Retta grabbed her jacket. I noticed Cora, Aaron and Lucas were all pulling theirs on as well.

“Are you guys coming?” I asked, surprised.

They all nodded.

I was touched. But Retta looked mortified. She locked her eyes on Lucas.

“You don’t have to,” she said, her tone practically begging him not to.

A small smile twitched at the corner of his lips. “And miss out on all the fun?”

“There’s not enough space in my car,” she added quickly.

But Lucas’s smile grew even wider. He grabbed a pair of keys sitting on the counter. “No problem. We can take the van.”

Retta’s eyelids closed slowly with frustration. She turned on her heel and headed out the warehouse, shaking her head.

“The van?” I asked.

Cora smirked. “Just wait and see.”

We headed outside. Lucas disappeared off round the corner, swinging his keys around his finger as he went. Retta stood on the sidewalk with her arms folded, looking miffed.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

She let out a sigh between her teeth. Just then, a van the color of snot appeared around the corner, belching smoke. Lucas waved from the driver’s seat and tooted the horn.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, laughing.

*

We juddered along the streets. There were no seats in the van, just scatter cushions covered in mandala designs. It smelled of cigarettes and other smokable substances.

Retta looked extremely displeased. A Sugar Plum in a hippy van was a pretty amusing sight to behold. I got the distinct impression she’d been driven around by Lucas in this van a lot while they were dating, or whatever they’d been doing in the past to cause all this tension between them now.

“I really wish we weren’t heading to Brownsville,” Retta said, grimacing. “That’s a really shitty part of town.”

“You didn’t expect Geiser’s henchmen to be Manhattanites, did you?” I joked.

It wasn’t easy to see out the murky windows, but I could tell we were heading farther and farther into the bad neighborhoods. It was dusk now, so there were a lot of moon-Daimons milling around, types I’d never seen before. It was the sort of place that made my alleyway run-in with the Incubus look like playground banter.

We ended up outside what appeared to be the back of a Chinese takeout. Lucas killed the engine and we all exchanged curious looks.

“This is where Geiser recruits his henchmen?” I said with uncertainty.

“This is the place,” Lucas confirmed.

We clambered out the van and headed to the door. I tried the handle. To my surprise, it opened immediately.

“Hello?” I called into the darkness.

Inside, it was very dim. The smell of grease was overpowering. I could just make out a row of industrial-sized metal ovens.

My call was met by silence. I glanced over my shoulder at my friends, gave them a quick shrug, then stepped cautiously inside.

They followed me in.

“Anyone else getting a really creepy vibe from this place?” Cora whispered.

“I’m definitely getting a vibe,” Aaron whispered back. “Oh wait, it’s just the smell of food making me hungry.” He grinned.

I dialed up my Elkie sight and glanced around the grimy kitchen. Other than stacks of supplies in cardboard boxes and towers of packaged noodles, there was no sign of life.

Just then, Retta grabbed my arm tightly.

I looked at her, frowning. “What is it?”

“This is a Vanpari den,” she squeaked.

“A what now?”

She pointed up.

Slowly, my eyes roved up to the ceiling. There, hanging upside down like bats, arms folded against their chests, were three sleeping Vanpari.

Everyone jumped a mile.

I thought the whole Vanpari sleeping upside down thing was a rumor! What the heck was going on?

Shocked, I staggered backward. My butt knocked into the metal counter, making a row of pans swing perilously back and forth. Then, in a chain reaction that made me wince, they all came crashing to the ground.

Straight away, the group of Vanpari’s eyes pinged open. Now three sets of eyes were pinned on me.

I gave them a sheepish wave. “Hi,” I said meekly.

The Vanpari moved quickly, too fast to really process. In a flurry of black, they leaped down from their sleeping spots and surrounded us.

“Oh shit,” I muttered.

My fist tightened around my bow. I wasn’t afraid to fire off a warning shot, but I didn’t want things to escalate. I really did not want to add murdering Vanpari to my growing list of traumas I needed therapy for.

As I glanced from the cold gray eyes of a teenage boy, to the even colder gray eyes of a teenage girl, I realized the third figure was someone I recognized. It was the Eclipse kid I’d saved from Trevor!

“I know you,” I stated.

The younger Vanpari boy looked stunned.

“I saved you from that Celestial,” I added.

“Oh yeah,” Retta added. “You’re the Eclipse kid Trevor was beating up.”

Everyone hesitated. The older Vanpari boy frowned and looked down at the freshman kid. “Is it true, Cal? She’s the one who saved you from Trevor?”

With a little reticence, the kid, Cal, nodded.

No one moved. This sudden bombshell seemed to have locked us all into a truce. But finally, the older boy dropped his fighting stance. The other two followed suit.

I lowered my bow and let out a long exhalation.

“I’m sorry, what have I missed?” Cora asked. “Why are we not fighting?”

Retta explained. “A couple of days ago, me and Theia stopped one of the jocks from our school beating up this kid.” She gestured to Cal. “A jock who went on to pummel Theia and let slip he was doing it for Geiser. And now a stolen address from Geiser has led us here.” She folded her arms and flicked displeased eyes from one Vanpari to the next. “Which is a lot of coincidences, don’t you think?”

“You broke into our den,” the older boy said, deflecting the issue.

“Actually, the door was unlocked,” I told him.

The older boy rolled his eyes at the girl standing beside him. “Sandra, how many times have I told you to lock the door?”

The girl, Sandra, looked embarrassed.

“Stop sidestepping,” Retta said. “You guys are Vanpari traitors working with Geiser!”

The older boy sucked his cheeks in and set his jaw firm. He looked reluctant to speak, which was fair enough, considering we’d barged into his home while he was sleeping and now Retta was accusing him of being a traitor to his own kind.

I touched her arm lightly. “Maybe we should build up to the heavy accusations?” I said. I looked at the older Vanpari boy. “I’m Theia. This is Retta, Cora, Aaron, and Lucas. We’ve already met Cal. And that’s Sandra, right? So, are you Kevin?”

The flicker in his eyes betrayed him.

“I knew it,” Retta muttered.

“Nice to meet you, Kevin,” I said loud enough to drown her out. From their faces, I could tell the three Vanpari were related. The family resemblance between them was striking. “You’re brothers and sisters, aren’t you? Where are your parents?”

“They’re dead,” Sandra said.

My heart ached for them. Cal was Heidi’s age and Sandra round about mine. Kevin looked a little older, maybe nineteen, but he was clearly too young for the responsibility of caring for his teenage siblings on his own.

“Why aren’t you in foster care?” I asked.

Kevin looked furious. “Foster care? For Vanpari? You’ve got to be kidding.”

This was news to me. If there was no support system in place for the Vanpari then they really were treated like second-class citizens, just like Retta had said.

“This is the best we can do,” Sandra explained. “The manager is a moon-Mage. He lets us sleep here during the day as long as we clear out by sunset.”

Kevin checked his watch. “Which is pretty soon, actually. We should get going.”

Retta held her hand up to stop them. “Not so fast,” she said accusingly. “Your name and address was among William Geiser’s paperwork. Why? You work for him? For someone who hates Vanpari? You profit by betraying your own people?”

“You don’t have the right to judge,” Kevin said, bringing his pointer finger right up to Retta’s face. “I know you. You’re a Sugar Plum. What do you know about poverty? We get money where we can. Geiser’s the least bad option.”

I tugged on Retta’s arm, trying to get her to back down. The whole good-cop, bad-cop thing was not going to work here. Luckily, she backed away.

I looked at Kevin. “How exactly do you make money from him?” I asked.

But the older boy wasn’t speaking anymore.

His sister answered instead. “All we have to do is cause a scene. It’s not that big a deal. We rob a liquor store. Rough up a Celestial. That sort of thing.”

Retta glared at Cal. “Was that whole thing with Trevor staged?”

Cal shook his head, looking terrified of her.

Again, Sandra answered on his behalf, her voice heavy with emotion. “We used to work together. Tag team. But we didn’t give Trevor his half from another job. He took it out on Cal.”

Kevin, his arms folded across his chest, glared at me. “Not that any of this is your business. I should’ve sucked your blood the second you walked in here.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Way to be a stereotype,” Retta said. “Just because everyone says the Vanpari are bloodsuckers who live like bats in smelly dark caves, doesn’t mean you have to prove them right.”

Kevin came up close to her again, his face barely an inch away.

“Retta…” I warned.

She turned to me, her voice vicious. “Why aren’t you mad about this?”

“I am,” I contested. In fact, I was furious. These kids were sleeping with the enemy, doing Geiser’s dirty work for short-term gain. But my fury was for Geiser, not them. They didn’t have a choice. They were in a desperate situation. Geiser had preyed on their weakness, just like he had Mom. “But I know how Geiser works. How he manipulates people. Besides, we’re here to ask for their help. Yelling at them isn’t going to get them on our side.”

“Help?” Sandra asked.

I turned to the Vanpari siblings. “Geiser might be protecting you now, but he won’t once he gets in power. He only cares about people while they’re useful to him. The second he’s got what he needs out of you, he’ll turn his back on you. Discard you. Throw you away. And that’s if you’re lucky.” I thought of Carmella Reed, Geiser’s Celestial mistress. Her life had been snuffed out on his command. “If you’re anything like the others he’s used before, he’ll kill you to stop you speaking.”

Kevin pouted. He looked just about ready to thump someone.

“Like you care,” he spat.

“I do actually,” I said. “I care about all the people Geiser believes should become second-class citizens.” Then my voice dropped, sadly. “And he wants me dead, too.”

A sudden look of recognition overcame Kevin’s features. His gaze fixed on my ears. “You’re the stepdaughter,” he stated.

“Yeah,” I said. “How’d you know about me?”

But Kevin looked suddenly shifty. It was obvious he was holding something back.

“Look, whatever you’re hiding, it won’t shock me. He’s already tried to have me killed. You may as well spit it out,” I urged.

Kevin paced away, looking like he was debating with himself. Finally, he turned back and fixed his steel-gray eyes on mine. “Geiser was recruiting people recently for an attack. He’s planning some huge public event for maximum impact. And you’re supposed to die.”

My face drained of all warmth. I felt ice running up my spine.

Retta reached for my arm, squeezing it. “He tried to recruit you?”

Sandra nodded. “We said no. We do have some morals.” She flashed her an angry expression.

“We told him that we wouldn’t kill,” Kevin added. “And that he wouldn’t find a single Vanpari in Brownsville who would. There’s a big difference between robbing a liquor store and killing a living, breathing person.”

“I’m glad you agree,” I replied.

I paced away, my mind swirling. A few days ago I was just a normal girl living her normal life. Now look where I was and what I’d been embroiled in.

I looked up at the Vanpari gang. “We’re trying to stop Geiser from getting in power. We need people to speak up against him, to expose all the shady shit he’s done. Will you help us?”

They all exchanged glances, Sandra and Cal looking hopeful.

But Kevin shook his head firmly. “No way. We don’t have any other protection. If we speak against Geiser, he’ll hire people to kill us instead. You don’t understand what it’s like to be Vanpari. The things we have to do to survive. Helping you isn’t worth it.”

“He’ll kill you anyway,” I replied. “Once you’re no longer useful.”

“Or maybe he’ll kill us for talking to you,” Sandra said, looking suddenly worried.

“Shit, good point,” Kevin said. “You’d better leave. All of you.”

“Wait, no,” I said. “Let’s talk this through. We can come to an agreement.”

But Kevin seemed suddenly rattled, having just realized that if he was caught fraternizing with me, he was as good as dead anyway.

“Get out!” he bellowed. “GO! NOW!”

He started shoving us out the door. Lucas puffed up his chest. He seemed to grow an extra foot wider, his muscles straining against his tee.

“We’re leaving,” he told the Vanpari gang. “No need to push.”

We staggered out into the drizzly evening, the door to the Chinese takeout slamming shut behind us. We were no closer to bringing down Geiser.

Cora was the first to break the silence. “Now what?”

“We’re out of leads,” Retta said, her shoulders slumping.

“Not quite,” I told them. “We’ve got one more shot. One more person we can try to convince to speak out against Geiser.”

Everyone looked at me expectantly.

“Who?” Lucas asked.

“Elliot,” I told them. “The missing one of the Vanpari Five.”

Everyone’s perplexed expression grew even stronger.

“What?” Aaron asked, folding his arms. “What are you talking about?”

“He’s Nik’s friend,” I explained.

“Nik knows the Vanpari on the run?” Cora asked, stunned.

I nodded. “And I know where he is. I saw him hiding out in Bear Mountain the morning I left. If we can find him and convince him to speak out against Geiser, we might have it. The only thing is, we’ll need Nik to help us find him.”

“Why?” Aaron challenged.

“Because they’re friends. They’re connected. And Nik has a talisman of Elliot’s that he dropped. We can use it to help me track him through the forests, then Nik can try and talk him into helping us.”

“Then let’s go!” Retta cried, insistently. “Let’s stop standing around in this crappy neighborhood.” She shivered against the rain. “It’s screwing up my hair.”

“That’s the thing,” I said. “We don’t know where Nik is.”

We all exchanged tense glances. Without Nik there’d be no convincing Elliot. Until we found him, we were completely stuck.