Broken

Zoe

FROM THE OUTSIDE, MILLER’S WASN’T THE SORT OF PLACE I’d wander into in search of a drink. The term “hole in the wall” has never been more apt. The place had an entrance accessible only by a door leading from the alley. The flickering neon Miller’s Ale sign made me think that, if the owner had found a Labatt’s sign in the curbside trash instead, the bar would have a different name.

There was a single reinforced window beside the door. As I slipped up for a closer look, I realized the window wasn’t just reinforced, it was plastered over from the inside.

A shower of gravel rained down. Clay had reached the second-story fire escape landing, but the window overlooking it was barred, which I’m sure would be much appreciated by anyone trapped inside during a fire. The bars were old, though, and Clay snapped them with a sharp wrench. Then he stripped off his shirt and wrapped his hand in it to muffle the noise as he broke the window. No alarms sounded. A place like this, rusted bars were all you got.

Clay looked down through the slats of the fire escape.

“You gonna be okay?” he said.

“Even knocked up, I think I can take on a vampire.”

I waited while Clay slipped inside. A moment later, he stuck his head out and gave me the all clear-he’d found a place to watch over me from upstairs.

In the movies, vampires and werewolves are often portrayed as mortal enemies. Not true. There’s no gut-level antipathy, no centuries-old feud. I’m just not…keen on vampires. Chalk it up to a bad experience.

The first vampire I met tried to befriend me. Nothing wrong with that. I was flattered; who wouldn’t be? Then I’d been taken captive by supernatural-collecting psychotic humans. Her response? What a tragedy…but, as long as Elena’s gone, I might as well help myself to her boyfriend. Clay had told her where to stick it. When I’d escaped, she thought we could pick up where we left off. The lesson I learned from that? Compared to vampires, Clay is downright empathetic.

I shouldn’t tar all vampires with Cassandra’s brush, but later encounters taught me that with few exceptions, vampires are self-absorbed egomaniacs. Paige says it’s self-preservation, because they live so long and watch everyone around them grow old and die. They learn not to form attachments. I can see that. But there’s a big difference between understanding a type of person and wanting to hang out with them. When I walked into that bar to meet Zoe Takano, I knew this encounter would take some serious acting skills.

A wave of cigarette smoke rolled over me when I opened the door. Someone was giving a big middle finger to the city’s antismoking laws. A glance around, and I knew the owner wasn’t in danger of being reported. The kind of people who cared about secondhand smoke issues didn’t come here.

A dozen patrons, most of them alone, seemed dedicated to prodding the night into oblivion with beer and third-rate whiskey. A few huddled by the bar, not talking, just drinking, as if being within two feet of another person was as sociable as they could get.

Xavier had said the bartender was a supernatural. He didn’t say what kind, and it didn’t matter. But it explained why the bartender, and some of the clientele, could see a woman come in here for decades without aging, and not care. The nonsupernatural regulars could probably see a vampire feasting on the guy beside them and only decide they’d had their limit for the night.

Zoe Takano was easy to spot. For one thing, she was the only woman. For another, she was clean-with gleaming black hair, a tight white T-shirt, black jeans and motorcycle boots. And she looked more alive than anything in the bar, which, all things considered, was kind of sad.

She sat at a corner table, reading the Sun, her hand wrapped around an icy beer bottle. When I stepped in, she was the first one to look up-the only one to look up. She gave me a slow once-over, then made it a twice-over, her index finger tapping the bottle neck. Sizing up my potential as a more satisfying thirst quencher? Maybe if I played this right, we could skip the whole “small talk” portion of the meeting and get straight to the “invitation into a dark, deserted alley.”

This might not be Zoe. Xavier said the bar did attract supernatural criminals looking for a safe place to conduct business. But she was the only vampire in Toronto -a quick call to the council’s second vampire delegate, Aaron, had confirmed that. He’d given me a brief physical sketch too. Although Aaron hadn’t seen Zoe in years, with vampires, vital stats don’t change in two years or two hundred.

She fit Aaron’s description, but as I approached, I still ran a sniff test. A vampire’s smell is all artificial. I could track Cassandra or Aaron by their particular blend of soap, shampoo, cosmetics, laundry detergent, but underneath that, there was nothing. When you don’t have bodily functions, you don’t have a smell.

This woman had almost no scent at all, only a faintly chemical odor, as if she used all unscented products. The better to confuse guard dogs.

“Zoe Takano?” I said.

Her gaze slid up me, taking my measure. When she reached my eyes, I expected to see a predatory gleam. Here was a healthy woman, alone and weighted down with child. Mother Nature’s version of convenience food-dinner too dumb to keep out of danger’s path. Yet her expression was only one of curiosity.

Across the room, the bartender stopped wiping the counter and looked over at us, eyes narrowing. She must have given him some signal because he nodded and returned to his wiping.

“Zoe Takano?” I repeated, almost certain now that she wasn’t who I thought she was.

“At your service, ma’am.” Her eyes glittered then, in anticipation, but there was no hunger behind it, still only curiosity. “And I presume it is service that you’re looking for, a service I can provide?”

“I have a proposition-”

She chuckled. “Exactly what I was hoping.”

“It’s a job-”

“Ah, business. Too bad.”

I hesitated. “You aren’t taking clients-”

A tinkling laugh, like wind chimes. “Oh, I’m always taking clients. Don’t mind me. It’s been a slow week, and when there’s little to amuse me, I start to amuse myself. Sit, sit. Get off your feet. That-” a nod at my stomach, “-can’t be terribly comfortable. Not in this heat.”

“Er, yes. I mean, no, it isn’t.” I pulled out a chair and sat down. “Thank you.”

“A cold drink?” she said. “Something nonalcoholic, I presume?”

“Um, no. I’m fine. I was told-”

“First things first,” she said, leaning back in her chair. “Credentials. I presume you come on a recommendation. May I ask from whom?”

I cast an anxious glance around. “I, uh, was hoping we could do this someplace less…public.”

Another tinkling laugh and she leaned forward. “Does anyone in here look like they could summon the energy to eavesdrop, much less the inclination?”

“Er, no, but-” I tried to look nervous. “I’m really new at this and-”

“And you want me to follow you outside, where anyone could be waiting for me.” Her smile was brittle now. “I don’t know who you are or who sent you-”

“His name’s Xavier Reese. He said you don’t know him personally but…” I could tell by her expression that Xavier’s name, if it meant anything to her, wasn’t enough to get her outside. “I also spoke to Aaron Darnell, for his recommendation.”

A spark of interest behind the caution, but still cool. “Did you? And what did he say?”

“That you were reasonably trustworthy…for a thief.”

Her dark eyes danced as she grinned. “Ah, Aaron. He tries to be understanding, but he can’t shake his disapproval.”

She sipped her beer and looked thoughtful, as if even that recommendation wasn’t enough. Oh, come on. She was a vampire, impervious to harm. What was she worried about? A very pregnant blond?

She tapped her fingernails against her beer bottle then, gaze still down, gave a tiny “What the hell” smile, and pushed back her chair.

“All right,” she said. “Let’s go outside and you can tell me what all this is about.” I stepped out of the bar first. Zoe paused in the doorway, looking, listening, sensing, then followed me out.

I got two steps into the adjacent alley, turned to ask, “Is this good enough?” and Zoe was already lunging toward me. Her fangs met my fist and she flew into the brick wall with a yelp. She dove for me again. An uppercut to the jaw sent her sailing down the alley.

Not normally the way I’d treat a potential source, but short of lopping off a body part, I couldn’t do any lasting damage to a vampire. And, as with any predator, if you plan to establish dominance, you have to do it fast. So before she recovered from the uppercut, I pounced and knocked her to the ground, then pinned her.

“Hope you weren’t too hungry,” I said.

“Hungry?” She only laughed and stretched out on the ground under me, as if relaxing. “Not at all, but it seemed like the quickest way to get past all that ‘I want to talk someplace private’ nonsense, and find out what you really want…and what you are.” She slid her tongue over her split lip, and the skin mended. “Half-demon, I presume?”

“Good guess,” I said.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever met one who was quite so…physical. Interesting.”

I glanced over my shoulder for Clay, and saw him waiting at the end of the alley. As I twisted, Zoe moved. When I swung around, I felt a sharp tug on my hair. I grabbed for her hand, only to find my broken hair band in it. My hair slid over my shoulders, and I gave a small snarl as I tried to flip it back out of the way.

“Sorry, but I just had to do that,” Zoe said. “Silver blond. Gorgeous. It’s natural, isn’t it? Somehow, I doubt that a woman who ties her hair with an elastic band has any use for hair coloring.”

Unbelievable. Pinned to the ground by an unknown assailant…and she wants to share beauty tips. I guess for a vampire, the phrase “mortal danger” just doesn’t pack the same punch.

“I need to talk to you about something you stole a long time ago.”

“Business already?”

“It’s that or toss you around a bit more.”

She paused, as if considering this.

“Business,” I said.

A soft sigh. “Oh, all right. Something I stole a long time ago, hmmm? I’ve stolen a lot of things, and most of them a long time ago.”

“I think this object would fall under the heading of unique and memorable. Jack the Ripper’s From Hell letter.”

Her expression didn’t change.

“Stolen from the London Metropolitan Police eighty years ago?” I said. “Sold to a local sorcerer’s family?”

“You’re local too, aren’t you? I can tell by the accent.” She laughed. “Or the lack of accent. So why haven’t I ever met you before? You certainly haven’t been in Miller’s. I’d remember.”

“How about the letter? Do you remember that?”

“Vaguely.” She wriggled under me and put a hand under her head, getting comfortable. “I’d rather talk about you.”

I glanced over my shoulder. Clay nodded, and slipped around the corner, guarding the escape route without Zoe knowing he was there yet. He stayed far enough back that she wouldn’t sense him.

I moved off her. She stayed on the ground a moment, then sighed, and almost reluctantly sat up.

“Now, what did you say your name was?” she said.

“I didn’t.”

“I know, I was just giving you the opportunity to correct the oversight.” She smiled, teeth glistening in the dim light. “But if you don’t want to, I suppose that will give us something to talk about next time.”

She sprang to her feet and raced down the alley-the other way, toward an eight-foot fence, moving so fast that she was over that fence before I was on my feet.

Clay raced past me. He reached the fence and jumped, catching the edge, then swung himself up. As he went over, he looked back and saw that I was just nearing the base. He perched on top, waiting.

“No, go on!” I said. “Chasing and jumping, I can’t do. Not like this.”

“Then we’ll track her.”

I shook my head even as I grabbed his hands. “Her scent’s too faint.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He locked his fingers around my wrists and hauled me up. “I’m not leaving you alone, remember?”

He helped me over the fence. We ran to the end of the alley.

“There,” Clay said.

We spotted Zoe across the road as she darted into a side street. Clay took my arm and we hurried across. After a few more streets and alleys, we reached a stretch of open land leading to the foot of a wooded hill.

Clay chuckled. “This look familiar, darling?”

I grinned. “High Park.”

I used to run here when I’d been going to the University of Toronto. A long hike from the campus, but I’d been willing to make the trek-or pay the subway fare-for the chance to jog away from the city streets. When Clay and I had been dating, this had been “our place” more than any other.

I watched Zoe’s white T-shirt disappear into the woods. There was one sure way I could catch her, in a form where my stomach didn’t affect my balance.

I lifted my muzzle and took a deep breath, my legs trembling with excitement. High Park. Even in my later days in Toronto, I’d never run here as a wolf. Too many memories, all of them inextricably woven with the one thing I’d been trying to forget. But now we were here, just like in those early days, before the bite, before everything fell apart. Clay here, with me, and all the pieces mended, the new better than the old.

I let out a shuddering sigh and closed my eyes. I could feel the weight in my belly, heavy and warm, alive. Alive. In this form, there was no question about that-no fears. Everything was simple-my mate, my pup, both safe, all as it should be, the night and the forest laid out before us, ours to enjoy, explore, possess-

A questioning whine by my ear. Clay looked at me, his head tilted, “Still here?” in his eyes.

Oh, right. Before I could enjoy the forest, there was the small matter of a fleeing vampire to contend with.

It had been nine days since my last run, and I paid the price when I tried picking up Zoe’s trail. Every other scent, every sound, every sight, even the feel of muddy ground squelching under my pads, was infinitely more enticing than a vampire’s scent. The faint smell of wood-smoke said: go check it out. The patter of rabbit feet: dinner, come and get me. A glimmer of light in the trees: go see what that is. Come here, they whispered, forget the vampire…

Then I found her trail, and the other voices went silent, drowned under the single overwhelming cry of “prey.” An intelligent, humanoid target, not the silly little bunnies I could have anytime. And not only was I allowed to chase her-I had to.

I ran full speed down the path with Clay at my heels. There was no need to take cover. There wouldn’t be any other predators here, and if we came upon a person, they’d only catch a flash of fur before we dove into the undergrowth.

Faint though Zoe’s scent was, my wolf brain focused on it with a single-mindedness I could never have managed in human form. She was headed for the ravine. Behind me, Clay gave a low growl. I looked up. We’d hit the top of the cliff and there, below, was Zoe’s white shirt bobbing along the path. She’d slowed to a brisk walk, certain she’d left the waddling pregnant chick back in the alley.

I stopped at the top of the path, claws digging into the dirt, feeling the ground below me, soft but dry. Good. Sliding down the incline muzzle-first wasn’t quite the entrance I had in mind.

I glanced at Clay. His mouth hung open, tongue lolling, blue eyes dancing with “go for it.” Hindquarters twitching, I tested my grip for takeoff. A flick of my tail and I barreled down the cliff, picking up speed with every stride.

I was less than ten feet behind Zoe when she finally heard me. She turned. And I got my reward, in that split-second look of “Oh, my God” surprise and, yes, terror. Catch them off guard, and apparently you can even spook a vampire. Nice.

Zoe did what anyone seeing a 140-pound wolf barreling straight at them would do-tried to run. But before she could move, I sprang and caught her in the shoulder. She went down, managing to roll as she fell.

I could have snagged her arm. Could have…but chose not to because it had all been too easy. Normally, I don’t chase humans. Somewhere along the way, my adrenaline-stoked brain could slide from play mode into hunt, and I couldn’t take that chance. But Zoe Takano couldn’t be killed, not accidentally and certainly not easily.

My bite couldn’t even turn her into a werewolf-Clay and I had discovered that while helping Aaron catch a rogue. So I could toy with her, safely. Even Jeremy would see the value in it, giving her a taste of my strength as a bargaining tool for negotiations.

I let Zoe dive out of the way. Then snarling and snapping, I grabbed for her arm, only grazing her bare skin with my fangs, but making a good show of it. A little reminder that she wasn’t completely immune to injury-a good snap of powerful jaws around her wrist or forearm and that was it. Vampires could heal, but if they lost something, it didn’t grow back.

When I charged her again, she feinted to the side and then, hallelujah, she started to run.