Reckless

Chapter 4 Part 1

Present Day

Character POV: Roxanne

I may not be acquainted with the vampires like I was back then. But that doesn't mean that I am not aware of their main hide outs. The sun is shining brightly overhead, which limits where they'll be clustered. They'll be in some dark basement, some place without windows or natural light. Or, in this modern age and loving to hide in plain sight, they'll be in a club. That they own. With an endless line of pretty people waiting to be fed on every single night.

Even when Analize has regularly drilled me, prying for more information on the vampires, I haven't divulged what I know. Despite the war between our peoples, the delicate truce that was struck, and the fact that we could probably use any leverage we could get for the coming war, I have kept it all a secret. Maybe it's because I'm sentimental, maybe it's because I owe them a debt for their kind saving my life not once, but twice. Still, with the gem gleaming brightly, I have to go and confront the problem at its source. I need answers, and this might be the quickest way to them. And if it is her, then I have to know.

I pull into the deserted parking lot, seeing the building looming ahead of me. I see the logo with vampire's teeth dripping blood and the crooked witch's hat above it, and the title, "Club Lamia." Lamia, meaning vampire, witch, or enchantress. If there was one thing Ariadne was good at, she could enchant anyone she met. Though, I'm not stupid enough to think that she'll be in the first place that I check. I just know that she is a little on the head sometimes. And owning a club like this one when you're a hedonist. . . She probably is having a grand old time.

The illusion of Ariadne appears in the passenger seat of my 1966 red convertible mustang, elbow resting on the door, hand in her brown hair, violet eyes boring into me as she winks, "What are you? Jealous?" before leaning her head back and letting loose a cackle. But when I blink, she's just gone. I shake my head, clearing her out of my head as I force the sticking door open and shut it behind me, locking the car up tight before I start my limping self towards the entrance to the building.

From the outside, it looks like ordinary glass doors. The closer I get, the more I see that it is black glass, so dark that really no sunlight can penetrate. I reach out, about to pull the door open, but I see a hand dart around the corner and push it open for me. I reach out quickly and pull it open the rest of the way as the hand quickly darts back round the corner before it can be caught in the sun. I step in to see none other than Zebulun standing there, his dark eyes scanning me.

We stand there, facing off against each other. The cloak is gone, all of that chivalrous demeanor remains. He holds out an arm in invitation, a sweeping gesture meant to convey that I should go first. I incline my head to him in thanks before proceeding down the slender hallway, a short one, with the bathrooms lining the hall. Then, we step through the open doors into the round room with tiered levels and light fixtures meant to make this a multicolored kaleidoscope of a club when it is open.

He stops at the doors, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms as I shift to view him fully. Zebulun nods in my direction as he asks, "What brings you here. . . Roxanne?" He quirks his head to one side, a predator assessing his prey, as he continues, "It is Roxanne now, isn't it? It's been a few hundred years and I know you like to update your name every few decades, Elizabeth."

I nod, blonde hair spilling over my shoulders and into my eyes as I reach up to brush it away. "It's Roxanne now. And I'm sure you know why I've come here, Zebulun. You're just too loyal of a second in command to out her."

He sighs through his nose, dragging his dark eyes off of the way I am favoring my bad leg, the leg that he fixed up well enough that it still functions, though I do have the limp and the pain he and Ariadne predicted, always there, a reminder of what I've been through no matter what additional lengths I go to in order to try and forget. He points at my leg and says, "You know, a cane would do wonders to help you. And being sober would help with your balance." I still, my eyes going round, called out by him. He smirks sadly at me then as he says, "I'm dead, not dumb. Vampires have excellent senses of smell, or had you forgotten that?" He sighs, shaking his head as he says, "I've been careful not to out either of you, Roxanne. So, your coming here is putting all of us in a very tricky situation, especially if Analize finds out. It violates the terms of the ceasefire. And she's not here anyway."

I see the way he taps his fingers a single time on his arm, the only tell he has that he quickly catches, the slight way he keeps glancing around the room as if we are being watched. Which, to be honest, we probably are. A lot of the lower ranking vampires have begun to cluster around their elders, desperate for any cover they can have to continue with their shenanigans. "You didn't used to be a liar, Zebulun. You can read my tells, I can read yours."

"You're one to talk about being a liar. I've heard that you have yourself a live-in boyfriend, but can you really call him that when you have separate rooms and only bother to share a bed when you're too exhausted from the booze and trying to sex your way out of bad memories?" I flinch, the blow landing more than I expected it to considering I haven't seen or been friendly with Zebulun in years.

I don't ask him how he knows this. I know that he keeps tabs on all of the remaining witches and relays that to Ariadne so she can go about her crazy life however she wishes. I reach into my pocket and produce the gleaming gem, glowing brightly now. I give it a shake to emphasize my point as I snarl at him, "I know she's here. Magic doesn't lie. She is in town, and I need you to tell me what she plans so I can do something to minimize the damage."

He smiles then, but there is no joy in it as the dim light catches on his fangs. His eyes are hard as he smirks and says, "That's good. It's good that you have a gadget to tell you when your girlfriend is in town." I still then, knowing the bluff is up, that all of his innuendos are based on more than assumptions. He pushes off from against the wall, arms falling to his side as he stalks towards me and stops a foot away from me, just as I have begun to tense, respecting my boundaries even though I am not someone special in his world any longer. "Yes, she told me about you. She tells me everything. Can you say the same of your leader?"

I avoid the obvious bait, even though some questions begin to stir in the back of my mind. He's the enemy, even if he has saved my life in the past. He's just trying to bait me and I need to be smarter, to avoid the glaringly obvious detour he wants to set us down. I clench my hands into fists at my sides as I try to reign in my irritation, my desperation for him to just tell me the truth, to confirm what I have already suspected to be true. "Will you please just tell me when she is back?"

"No," he replies frankly, smiling at me slightly, if not in a tiny-bit demeaning way.

"You realize that that makes you essentially worthless to me, right?" I snarl, my anger slipping its leash. I advance on him a step, almost putting us nose to nose as the air begins to crackle with the energy of my magic rising in me. He doesn't so much as flinch or break eye contact. "I could just end your life right here, right now."

"There you are," he smirks, and it quells the rage rising inside of me. "There is the witch-killers' nightmare I've heard so much about." He then leans in conspiratorially to whisper in my ear, "And you know what, Roxanne, I'm willing to bet that you won't do shit about it because you know what I mean to her, and what she still means to you." He pulls away, smirking a little at the way I have gone suddenly still and am keeping my mouth shut. He nods towards the way I came in, stepping out of my way, and says, "You know the way. I think it's time you leave. And, as always, a pleasure speaking with you, Roxanne." I stand there mutely for a moment before I decide there's nothing else I can get out of him and shuffle off. The moment I am out of the building, I reach into my pocket, remove the flask, and down half of it in one gulp before striding for my car. Fuck a DUI. I dare someone to pull me over right now.