Page 109 of Throwing Shade
The door closed silently. There were no tables and no other patrons. I could disappear without a trace and no one would be the wiser.
I took the stool closest to the door, gambling on the fact that Zev had a moral code. A psychopathic one, involving a strict adherence to procedures of his devising and an almost fanatic loyalty to him, but that was exactly what might save us all now.
Behind the polished length of the bar top were dozens of bottles with Japanese labels, each one spotlit in its own display.
Yoshi presented us with a delicate earthenware carafe and two small glass cups, then withdrew to the end of the bar where he watched a baseball game on his phone.
Zev poured my sake and then explained that I should do the same for him.
I held up my cup in cheers. “Kanpai.”
“Kanpai,” he said. “Do you often drink sake?”
“No. I’ve only ever had it a couple of times, but I was taught that kanpai means ‘dry cup’ and that struck me as more poetic than bottoms up.” I sipped the cool liquid, pleasantly surprised by how light and fruity it tasted.
Once we’d both sampled our beverages, Zev set his glass down with a businesslike air. “I take it you found the photo of your lovely daughter.”
My hands tightened on my glass, but I forced myself to put it down gently. “Let me be clear about one thing. If any harm ever comes to anyone I love, I will rain hell down upon you and whoever touches them. I don’t care if magic is outed, or who I upset. My only loyalties are to my family and friends. Banim Shovavim were hunted for eons, and I have absolutely no compunction about letting all the rest of you have a taste of that from humanity at large.” I opened the photo of Jude on my phone.
Zev looked at it without comment.
“Jude didn’t go willingly and she didn’t betray you,” I said. “There was no golem made.”
“Props and makeup can tell any story you want. Photos are easily manipulated and mean nothing. My vampire confirmed she was with Mei Lin, as did the golem.”
“Actually, Emmett didn’t.” I took another sip for fortification. It wasn’t a great idea to hand Zev a weakness, but I had no choice. “He said she was with the dybbuk, and she is,” I said, “but not Mei Lin. Jude is enthralled. It happened sometime during the Danger Zone when Jude’s kidnapper drugged her. And yes, this person wanted her to make a golem but Jude didn’t. In fact, she doesn’t even know—”
A cheer went up from the baseball fans. Funny how crowds at sporting matches all sounded the same.
I stilled, the pieces of this puzzle falling into place.
Kirk’s wrestling, a vampire described as having cauliflower ears who had been part of the attack on Laurent, it all fit. He’d probably told his mother about Jude a few weeks back, likely an offhand comment since he’d sounded like he enjoyed being a vampire. When he learned what his mother had set in motion, and knowing Zev’s stance on betrayals, Kirk had realized Zev would retaliate.
I bet he’d broken in to Jude’s studio and cleaned up all signs of the struggle, and he’d used Emmett’s prophecy to convince Zev that Jude had betrayed him. I set down my cup.
Would I give up a vampire to keep my daughter safe? In a heartbeat, but it had been bad enough imagining Lindsey as someone’s daughter. I’d seen firsthand how much Diane loved her son.
Zev leaned forward. “Care to fill me in, Ms. Feldman?”
Kirk wasn’t a monster or a lost cause to his mother. How could I condemn him to die, when I’d do anything to protect my own child?
“The vampire who told you that Jude was with the dybbuk,” I said. “Is his name Kirk?”
Zev narrowed his eyes. “It is.”
“Whose idea was it to threaten me with my daughter’s photo?”
“Kirk’s. He was very upset after Lindsey’s death. I often assign a vampire to mentor a newer addition, and she was his.”
Her newbie best friend. I released my death grip on the sake cup. Things had escalated after I’d killed her with the threat on Sadie. Well, Kirk should have come after me directly. There was no choice I could live with here, but only one I could make.
“How recently was he turned?” I said.
“Yoshi?” The vampire glanced over his shoulder. “When did Kirk join us?”
“About six months ago,” the other vampire said.
“Join?” I said. “Did he have a choice?”
