The Trouble With Slaying

The Trouble with Making Friends

I managed to finish cleaning the apartment despite my broken arm when we got back. Sawamura started combing the news, looking for signs of rogue Vampires gone crazy with blood lust. I listened to his half of the conversations as he called up various Master Vampires to make sure our help was even needed.

Liam and Shaw got to work, earning what money they could in the meantime with menial labor and part time jobs for people that knew them. As it turned out, Liam did indeed work as a bouncer sometimes. He ignored me as much as he was able but that meant we weren't at each others throats so I thought that would work for now.

Shaw started teaching me everything he knew, refusing to take my broken arm as an excuse. I wasn't sure how the old man did it. He'd go out and work for eight to ten hours, train me for two, do his own routine for an hour, and still managed to help Sawamura with the research wherever he was able before getting a few hours of sleep and starting all over again.

My head jerked up when Sawamura crowed in victory, and I leaned around the corner to see down the hall to where he was wiggling in his seat with excitement. "What happened?"

Sawamura turned in his seat to grin at me, showing a little fang. "I found us a job. An honest to Sire, paying slayer job. And Liam said I couldn't do it. Ha!"

I chuckled and shook my head as he buffed his nails on his shirt. I slipped out of the toxic waste dump I had been returning to a bathroom and came over to get a look at the information he had jotted down on the job. "So, what are we after?"

"Witch. And she sounds nasty too. The Fae population have been having problems with her but every time they petition the Vampires or Werewolves to take care of her, they get brushed off. I suppose it helps if you've got a more imposing figure than four inches tall with wings but hey, never underestimate a squadron of Fairies that's up against the wall."

I eyed Sawamura. "We're not getting paid in pixie dust are we?"

Sawamura rolled his eyes. "It would be fairy dust from Fairies. Pay no attention to Peter Pan, he's an idiot. And obviously Tinkerbell has never bothered to correct him. No, they know the rest of the world requires cold hard cash, even if they typically barter in leaves and berries. Which could also be more helpful than you might realize but I know Shaw would kill me if he found out I agreed to take out a witch in exchange for a pound of feverfew."

I cocked my head. "Wait, is Tinkerbell a Fairy or a Pixie then?"

"Pixie's have the dragonfly wings. Faries have butterfly wings. That makes Tink a Pixie. I don't know about clapping bringing either species back to life but I wouldn't suggest looking a Fairy in the face and telling it you don't believe to see if it'll drop dead. You're more likely to get a tiny sword in your eyeball."

I winced at that gruesome image and changed the subject. "So where are we going? Can't be anywhere around here. Between Katty and the Werewolves, most issues seem to be taken care of. And I don't think we have a very big Fae population around here."

Sawamura grinned as he tapped his notes, directing my attention even as he answered. "We're going to Florida."

~ ~ ~

"I hate Florida."

I gave Sawamura a sympathetic look as he tugged a hat down over his sunglasses. The middle of summer in Florida was no time to be wearing long sleeves, but it was either that, burn, or be stuck on the bus while the rest of us ate and brought him something back. Shaw snorted, as Liam teased.

"You didn't realize this when you took the job?"

"Shut up."

We had been on the road for ten hours, with Shaw and Liam switching out for each other driving and not stopping for much longer than it took to fill up and grab something to eat or drink. I had been passing the time by teaching Sawamura how to play chess, but he was too active a person to fare well stuck on a bus for long periods.