Page 103 of The Shade of Things
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Zev finally deignedto be present for our meeting at Blood Alley.
I zipped down there, singing along to some disco classics on the radio, intent on striking those final items off my to-do list and moving forward with my life.
I’d just parked in Gastown and locked the sedan up when I knocked into a woman in sunglasses. A burning sensation streaked through my body and I gasped, as frozen in place as when I’d been stung multiple times by a wasp.
“Are you okay?” the woman asked, the picture of concern. She hovered around me, giving the only other pedestrian a wave to communicate that she had this.
As soon as they disappeared around a corner, her demeanor changed. “Listen up,” she said in a hard voice.
Since I couldn’t speak and was stuck there, bent double, it was easy to obey.
“You shouldn’t have messed with the game.”
I’d underestimated the Consortium’s ability to find me this fast, fighting now to call up my magic. Sadly, there was merely an echo of it, like it was buried under ice. Still present but with an inaccessible heart.
Help. I sucked in a breath but couldn’t get enough air into my lungs. Zev. He’d been the last person I called.
“What do you want?” I wheezed, my voice barely above a whisper, while I fumbled one-handed to hit the redial button without her noticing. Even if it went to voice mail, hopefully Zev would hear enough to come and help me.
“The Consortium wishes to meet you,” the woman said.
“I’m free next week.”
She gripped my shoulder, and I went from hunchback impression to surfboard, my body stiffening out. I swear my eyes bugged out of my head like in those old cartoons.
“You’re free now.” She motioned at a black car with tinted windows pulling up to the curb.
My mouth went dry, my heart thundering in my ears. Never go to a secondary location. My love of crime shows had taught me that much. I’d have screamed, but there was no one on the street with us. Where were all the damn tourists when you needed them?
My heels slid against the pavement as she dragged me closer to the vehicle.
The door opened and a man in a suit, also with sunglasses and a Bluetooth device in one ear, got out of the driver’s side and opened the back door.
The interior of the car swam with that same darkness that had been in the gym.
I grabbed on to the top of the door with clammy hands, fighting as hard as I could to remain on the sidewalk, but my limbs were weak.
The man grabbed my arm. His hand tensed, then fell away, as did the woman’s grip, leaving me to collapse against the car door, my body slamming it shut.
Zev stood there holding a large black umbrella. I could have kissed his perfectly polished shoes. “Come along,” he said simply.
The directive tugged mildly at my brain, but it wasn’t intended for me. With their sunglasses on, it was hard to tell whether the man or the woman was more shocked to find themselves following docilely behind him.
The woman whipped off her glasses, glaring so hard at Zev’s back her face was contorted.
I laughed. “Your freezing magic doesn’t work on him.”
Zev stopped at my words, turning to raise an eyebrow at me. “Did you presume otherwise?”
“Nope,” I said hastily. “Just enjoying the moment.”
We all traipsed into Blood Alley behind the vamp. Once we were safely ensconced behind the gates and I guess under some kind of sun protection, Zev closed the umbrella and handed it to me without looking to see if I’d take it. Or, you know, asking me to hold it.
Nice way to waltz through life.
“Now, who do you work for and why were you harassing Ms. Feldman?” he said.
