Episode Fifteen – Two in The Hand, None in The Bush

Kendrick Stone looked remarkably arrogant for a man sitting alone in his car on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere.

     “How do you manage to do it?” I asked.

     “Do what?”

     “Always appear superior, even in the most ridiculous circumstances.”

     He leaned a little farther out of the window—a snowflake rested on his cheek without melting, and I couldn’t help but notice the irony—too cold and too beautiful—one and the same in their uniqueness.

     “Maybe because I am,” he said.

     My gaze wandered up the winding driveway.

     “There was a time when I welcomed your interference; now I just see you as intrusive. What do you want, Kendrick? I have enough of my own problems right now.”

     “I know, that’s why I’m here,” he said.

     My eyes didn’t meet his, still lingering on the distant glow of the farmhouse.

     “Have you come to save me, Kendrick? To settle an old debt?” I asked.

     “Something like that. The man you travel with, Sterling Pool, he can’t be trusted.”

     “You think I don’t know that?” I moved a little farther from the car, my anticipation building—not because of Kendrick, but because of what was coming. “But I suppose I can trust you?”

     The air shifted, carrying the scent of Sterling—he was close by, putting Patience’s distraction to rest. What kind of stripper was she anyway? Maybe her drinking wasn’t the only reason she got fired.

     I’m not sure if Kendrick sensed it too or was just trying to make his point as he opened the door and stood next to me in the darkness, his hand reaching out to me right when Sterling landed not six feet in front of us.

     His eyes flickered at me.

     “We had an agreement, no trouble on your part,” he said, ignoring Kendrick.

     “I’ve had a change of heart,” I said, stepping back from both of them.

     Sterling moved closer, and Kendrick had the balls to try to intervene.

     My canines grew, and I wasn’t sure who was annoying me more.

     “Still licking the boots of your master, Sterling? Prosecuting your own kind for what? A pat on the back and another whore in your stable. You disgust me,” Kendrick said.

     Sterling’s gaze moved between me and Kendrick.

     “I’m the least of her troubles. If Candy comes with me as she promised, she has a better than average chance of seeing another moonrise. If not…” Sterling said, shrugging his shoulders.

     I pushed in between them before their noses touched.

     “What do you mean, you’re the least of my troubles? From what I know, you’re all of them.”

     “Garth Merrick,” Sterling said.

     “Who the hell is Garth Merrick?” I asked.

     “What exactly did you do again?” Kendrick asked, turning back to me, his face sparkling with a light dusting of snow as it whipped down the drive. 

     “She pissed off the wrong clan, that’s what she did,” Sterling said.

     “But Garth Merrick? What does Merrick have to do with the Plamondon Clan?” Kendrick asked.

     I stood there in the falling snow, invisible.

     “Merrick supported Damian’s rise and was promised the rewards of victory, but Candy and her boy toy, Alard, cut that rise short. Alard had no interest in war or anything other than killing his father,” Sterling said.

     “So, you’re telling me that Garth Merrick is here… now?” Kendrick said.

     “Oh, he’s here, all right, and Candy here is his first order of business,” Sterling said.

     It occurred to me that this was not only the first time Sterling said more than two words in a row, but also the first time I had ever heard the name Garth Merrick.

     “Who the hell is Garth Merrick!” I yelled.

     They both stopped yapping and turned toward me.

     “Garth Merrick is an ancient. One of the original brat packs, so to speak. Not known for his understanding or giving nature. He kills entire clans with a wave of his hand, and now he’s got you firmly in his sights,” Sterling said.

     “Why did you lie to me about Camilla Thornton?” I asked.

     “What?” Sterling asked, his face changing from smug to confused.

     “Camilla Thornton, my friend. You gave me this letter,” I said, pulling the letter from my back pocket where I had stashed it after changing, and held it up in the moonlight. “You and whoever you’re working for tried to make me believe that Camilla was with you, working alongside you. But she’s not; Camilla is your prisoner. I want to see her… if she’s still alive.”

     Clouds moved across the sky, briefly obscuring the moon and throwing us into darkness. I half expected Sterling to attack me in the shadows, but he never did.

     “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Camilla Thornton is working with us; she’s not a prisoner, and she’s waiting for us to arrive,” Sterling said. “Only you and your little girlfriend back there are constantly fucking things up.”

     Kendrick looked at me. “You have a girlfriend?”

     I rolled my eyes. “Not now, Kendrick.”

     The idea that Camilla sent me a warning bothered me more than Sterling, Kendrick, or even Garth Merrick at this point. She was trying to tell me something, but I wasn’t understanding it.

     “I need to see her,” I said.

     “You’re not going along with this meatball, are you?” Kendrick said, running his hands through his hair, his eyes flashing with rage.  

     He still made my body ache.

     “He’s lying to you! He’s probably already working for Marrick and his goons! Stop being so damn stupid for once and listen to me!”

     “The last time I listened to you, you left me high and dry without a penny to my name. No, not this time, Kendrick. I’m not saying I believe him, but I am going with him. You’re not going to stop me or interfere with what I need to do.”

     “It’s about time,” Sterling said.

     “And as for you,” I said, turning to Sterling. “I don’t believe a single word that slithers out of your mouth, but I do need to see Camilla. You’ll take me to her, or I’ll kill you and wear your skin as a coat. It’s as simple as that. Do we understand each other?”

     Sterling knew I wasn’t talking out of my ass. I had killed a vampire ten times more dangerous than he ever would be. He set his jaw and nodded.

     “Good, then I think we should get moving. If I’m not mistaken, dawn isn’t far off,” I looked back up the winding, snow-covered drive just as Patience erupted from the darkness.

     “Stop!” she yelled, pulling on her clothes as she went. “Stop that slimy bastard, prick!”

     I looked back at Sterling, where he stood, a wide grin spreading across his face.

     “She may be easy on the eyes, but she’s a lousy dancer,” he said.

     Kendrick slid up behind me.

     “Is that your new girlfriend?”

     I watched as Patience pulled her green sweater back over her head and came to a stop in front of me, still trying to figure out if she needed to breathe at all. Still, she took breaths in quick gulps.

     “That little piss ant pushed me into the bedroom closet and locked me in there! I was in the middle of my dance, and he had the nerve to leave!” She lunged at him, but I grabbed her long before she made contact. “I want to kill him!”

     Her canines finally slid into place, and she relaxed into my arms.

     “Oh my God!” she said, her fingers feeling out her new teeth. “Oh my God, this is so cool.”

     She smiled up at me, teeth glistening in the moonlight.

     “Can I bite him now! Please? Oh, please, let me bite him just once!”