Isabel knew what to expect when she opened the door, but it didn’t change how she felt about it. There was bound to be someone knocking at her door for what happened in Danvers, but she was hoping she’d get a little more time.
“Good Afternoon, gentlemen, what can I do for you?” Isabel asked as cordially as she could manage. She recognized them as Varlets in direct service to Josephine Marino, one of the Vampire Bishops of Boston. “No need to be so impatient. I can’t exactly answer the door in my undies, can I?”
“Come on,” the Varlet on the left said. Isabel was pretty sure his name was Rufus. “She wants to see you.”
Isabel gnced between the Varlets. There was no talking her way out of the situation. Varlets were mystically bound to the will of their masters through blood. Even if they had a mind to give her some wiggle room, the magic that enthralled them would make it nearly impossible. It was one thing to interpret vague orders in creative ways, but there wasn’t much to be done about specific directives. “Alright, do you mind if I grab a few things?”
“Make it quick,” the other Varlet answered. He was taller and a little uglier, but he’d always been more patient in Isabel’s experience. She wanted to say his name was Bob. He certainly looked like a Bob.
Isabel moved to close the door, only for Rufus to sp his hand against it to hold it open. It was mostly for show. They both knew that by crossing over her wards, the Varlets would surrender the lion’s share of the power granted to them by Josephine. They’d effectively be human at that point, but Isabel reminded herself that a human with a gun could easily end her as quickly as a Varlet with super strength.
“Hey, now,” Isabel responded defensively. “No need for that.”
“You can get your things with the door open,” Rufus insisted. “No fast ones.”
Isabel gave him an insulted look before stepping into her bedroom, just out of their line of sight. She briefly pressed a finger to her lips, signaling for Meghan to remain quiet while she got her pack. Throwing it over her shoulder, she motioned to her wrist and then held up two fingers to indicate she’d be back in a couple of hours. When Meghan nodded, signaling she understood, Isabel stepped out of the room with a little pep in her step and keys in hand.
“Alright, lead the way,” Isabel chirped, glimpsing the presence of a gun in Rufus’s jacket as he stepped back into the hall. Meghan’s assessment had been surprisingly accurate. She’d have to talk to her about it when she got back and see what other nifty tricks the woman knew.
Isabel locked the apartment up and fell in behind Rufus, with Bob bringing up the rear. She was almost positive that his name was Bob.
“Did she happen to say what this was about?” Isabel wondered as they descended the stairs out to the street, where two more Varlets hung about and a car idled on the street. Josephine didn’t usually send a car for her.
“None of our business, you know that,” Bob said, opening the door for her and motioning for her to get in. Rufus circled around to the other side and got in, positioning her smack in the middle of them in the back seat. “Come on.”
As uncomfortable as it was, Isabel didn’t argue. There was only so far she could push the devil-may-care act before the Varlets would run out of patience. As they pulled out onto the street, the other pair of Varlets got into a car of their own and followed.
Driving in Boston was never really ideal, which meant that if Josephine had sent a car for her, it was more about ensuring she didn’t disappear rather than expediting her travel. Traffic wasn’t terrible yet, but it wouldn’t be long before it would be. Boston was referred to as a “walking city,” with most of the natives preferring some form of public transit or walking to wherever they needed to go. The streets followed old cow paths, so what might have seemed like a short and direct trip on paper hardly ever was.
Holding the rank of Bishop among the Vampires meant that Josephine held considerable political influence among the Hidden. Indeed, she was the one that many of the Vampires, Varlets, and Gnasci went to for all the day-to-day matters pertaining specifically to their unique part of the community. She owned several pces around town, but she typically ran most of her business from a club known as the Orchid.
Known in the mortal club scene as a decent pce for up-and-coming musical talent, the Orchid’s biggest draw was the gateway to the Scatter held within its walls. As one of the entrances into the strange and darkly magical world, it was rightfully accorded the status of neutral ground. All members of the Hidden were welcome, provided they were able to behave themselves. Josephine enjoyed considerable discretion when it came to who she could ban from the establishment, which meant it was in nearly everyone’s interests to stay on her good side, even if they weren’t much for clubbing.
Even during its off-hours, the club was open for members of the Hidden, who could get a drink at the bar and chat quietly among themselves. The location was secure, and most Hidden could speak freely in the club during the off-hours or pass through the gate to the portion of the club that existed on the other side, reserved exclusively for them. It was simply too valuable a location for someone to lose access to, so no one started shit at the club.
After Isabel was dropped at the curb, she was escorted by the Varlets into the club through the front door. Due to the hour, there was hardly anyone inside, and the typical crush of sound and music was absent. Two people she didn’t recognize were sitting at the bar, discussing something quietly over a couple of drinks. Looking up, Isabel saw the rge circur window of Josephine’s office that overlooked the floor on the ground level. A vampire by the name of River Fawkes stood in the center of it, looking down at her, expression impassive.
Once Isabel locked eyes with her, the woman gestured briefly toward the stairs, then vanished from view. The Gnasci gnced back at the pair behind her, who seemed to visibly rex, as though she’d just been taken off their hands. Steeling herself, Isabel made her way across the floor to the stairs that led up to Josephine’s office.
Though it was impossible to tell as she stepped inside, the office was well insuted against sound from the outside, allowing for meetings to be conducted even when the most raucous acts pyed the club. Isabel had experienced it a few times before, but when there was no sound to insute against, the office had a way of swallowing up any other sounds it could, including her footsteps as she approached the Vampire’s desk.
“We appreciate you coming down on such short notice,” River remarked from a comfortable chair in the corner of the room. Most people thought of River Fawkes merely as Josephine’s assistant, but the truth of the matter was that she functioned more like the court wizards of old. Perhaps it was Isabel’s own skill with Blood Magic that granted her the special insight needed to know the depth of the woman’s power, considering that despite the fine clothes she often wore, she kept a low profile. Isabel supposed she might have also picked up on the subtle cues from Josephine that spoke of a bond that was much more respectful than she had for others.
Whatever it was, Isabel knew that River was not a Vampire to be taken lightly.
“Yeah, no problem,” Isabel responded, without trying to sound the least bit inconvenienced. Josephine remained behind her desk without acknowledging Isabel, her gaze fixed upon some paperwork in front of her. “What’s up?”
River pursed her lips, signaling her disapproval of the casual tone in Jospehine’s office.
“Erhm, what I mean is, how can I help you?” Isabel grudgingly corrected, csping her hands behind her back. “Sorry”
Raising a hand, River brushed a single strand of brown hair from her face to rejoin the rest of her immacutely kept coiffure. “It’s alright, have a seat.”
Isabel gnced at the high-backed chair across the desk from Josephine, already slightly turned in her direction to receive her. She ran her fingertips briefly over the warm cherry wood of the arm that matched every other piece of furniture in the office before anxiously lowering herself into it. Sitting felt like it put her at a distinct disadvantage, despite the other two also sitting. “What’s going on?”
“Perhaps we ought to be asking you,” River responded, crossing her legs in the corner as Josephine continued to read without giving her so much as a gnce. Even when she was ignoring her, the Vampire was utterly breathtaking. Her skin was fwless, her hair bck as midnight, and were she standing, she would have been mostly leg in much the same fashion that Meghan was. Her silk blouse hugged her curves with preternatural elegance, causing Isabel’s existing yearning to spike as her eyes moved over her. “Is there anything you would like to share with us? Anything you’d like to get off your chest?”
Isabel pursed her lips thoughtfully, considering how to go about expining the events of the night before in a way that painted her in the best possible light. “We did have a bit of a mishap out in Danvers st night, but I think it all worked out.”
“That’s your assessment?” Josephine asked abruptly without looking up. It would have been preferable if the Vampire had leaped across the desk and plunged a dagger into her chest rather than speak to her with such a disapproving tone. The withering scowl that followed made it all the worse, causing Isabel’s heart to sink down into her shoes.
Josephine set the files aside and turned in her chair to face Isabel, her dark eyes fixed on her in a cold stare. “You were to maintain a low profile, Isabel. You were to be my eyes and ears so we could determine what was really happening on that ward. I think it goes without saying that your employment in Danvers has been terminated.”
The vampire tilted her head to the side, her gaze not unlike a shark’s. “We’ll be lucky if that’s all that comes of it. With the sort of shit you pulled, I fully expect to have police knocking at my door or worse: someone from the council. Would you care to tell me why, after taking you in the way I did, you would repay my kindness in such a way?”
Isabel hung her head, unable to feel anything but shame. “I’m sorry, Josephine. I am. Things got out of hand.”
Josephine’s eyes remained on her in silence for a while longer before she spoke again. “Expin it to me. Help me understand.”
“There...” Isabel’s mouth went a little dry as she considered where to start and precisely how much to say. “...was this girl---one of the Hidden. I suspect that the ward has more than a few of them on hand. Everyone’s doped up, shuffling around like zombies. I happened to be looking in her direction, and she just woke up. It was the damndest thing. One minute, the lights were on, and nobody was home. Then, all of a sudden, she was looking around, scared out of her mind, and asking for help.”
“So you helped her?” River asked, seeking crification.
Isabel gave the other woman a single nod. “Yes. I was just trying to calm her down and assess the situation, but she was lucid. She had no memory of how she’d gotten there and absolutely no concept of how long she’d been there, so I checked her chart. She’d been there for decades.”
Josephine’s brow furrowed as she leaned back into her chair, her fingers steepled together in front of her. “So you took it upon yourself to discharge her using my name for added weight?”
“That’s one way to look at it,” Isabel said, licking her lips anxiously as she adjusted her position in the chair. “I’m sure there’s plenty we can learn from her about the inside once her memories start to return, but if I’m being honest, I did it because it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. It’s no different from what you did for me.”
“They’re not the same,” Josephine argued, shaking her head, but Isabel detected the slightest faltering in her voice. The Gnasci had spent enough time speaking with her to know when she was starting to chip away at the icy demeanor. “You’re a Gnasci and a valuable asset. You assured me that, given a chance, you would prove to me that taking you in wasn’t a mistake. Now I find myself in an awkward position because of your recklessness. I’m going to have to answer on your behalf---and likely this other woman’s---sooner or ter.”
“I understand,” Isabel frowned, holding her hands up defensively. “I’ll make it up to you, I swear. Part of my value is my medical training. Part of that training is a degree of empathy, right? I couldn’t stand to just leave her like that.”
Josephine gnced over at River, and the two appeared to have an entire conversation through looks alone in a matter of seconds. Josephine’s hand came down onto the file and slid it across the desk toward her. “I know just where you can start.”
“You’re not going to punish me?” Isabel scoffed in surprise, her gaze darting between the two in disbelief. “You’re not going to like... whip me or something?”
“Would you like us to?” River joked, arching a brow.
Isabel shook her head and gnced down at the file that had been presented to her. It was strange to be let off the hook in such a way, which made her think that it wasn’t quite the mercy that it first appeared to be. Josephine was a bit more altruistic than other Vampires in Isabel’s personal experience, but things with them were seldom so simple. She’d grown up around Vampires. Her previous master and those around him had drilled certain lessons and expectations into her skull about what to expect for failure and acting out of line.
Sadly, Isabel appeared to be a slow learner. And so was her cousin, Ivan, by the looks of his picture in the file. Scanning the information quickly, it took a moment for it to click in Isabel’s mind that this wasn’t old or secondary information. Ivan was in town, and he hadn’t said anything to her. He was working when something happened to him st night.
Isabel frowned, checking the times given in the discreetly copied police report attached to the file. It was the same time that Meghan had awakened from her stupor. The Gnasci even vaguely remembered the breaking news report about it on the television when she’d first approached the Changeling.
“What the hell is going on?” Isabel muttered, her gaze lifting to meet Josephine’s.
“It turns out that it was a very busy night,” the Vampire suggested from across the desk, nodding weakly toward the file. “This happened right around the same time, didn’t it?”
Isabel nodded as she returned to scanning the information provided. The report read like the script to a ssher film. Ivan was evidently the only survivor of what police were tentatively describing as a brutal attack. There were numerous irregurities about the situation that were preventing them from calling it a homicide, or even if they had a suspect. The fact remained, they’d shown up to a bus full of dead and butchered people with Ivan as the only one to have made it out alive. His wounds were numerous, and they couldn’t decide if he was just a lucky victim or a suspect. Processing the scene was a nightmare that was going to keep them busy for a long time.
“Where did you get this report? Is there more to it besides this?” Isabel wondered, waving the folder around slightly. “You have people in the police department?”
“Medical Examiner’s office,” River answered, shrugging a shoulder. “Good to keep an eye on which bodies wash up from the Charles, among other things. I imagine that report will be amended a few times before the week is out.”
“Your cousin is in a comatose state. They’re holding him at Mass General under guard,” Josephine expined. “While your job in Danvers is done, your credentials haven’t been pulled entirely. Not yet, anyway. I want you to go up there, slip in, and see if you can’t get some answers out of him.”
Isabel nodded slowly, skimming over some of the illustrations that had been included with the file. The wounds described in the initial examination were horrifically barbaric. Josephine didn’t just want her to speak to Ivan. She wanted her to use her particur set of skills to link with him and see what he saw. It was a trait of many Gnasci Houses, but it was particurly strong with theirs.
Nodding, Isabel gently set the file down on the desk. “Alright. I’ll head up there right away.”
“Where’s the young woman you absconded with st night?” Josephine pressed, knowing that part of Isabel’s compliance was the hope that she wouldn’t ask that exact question.
Isabel was surprised to find herself considering a lie to the beautiful Vampire, but eventually decided against it. “She’s back at my apartment, recovering.”
“You said she was one of the Hidden?” Josephine inquired, continuing her probe for information.
“Changeling,” Isabel answered. “Vi-stock, evidently. Her name is Meghan.”
Josephine’s lip curled slightly with disdain. “We’re going to have to turn her over to the Fae, then. You realize that?”
The Gnasci nodded sheepishly. ‘Yes, ma’am, I thought I would just give her a little time to readjust and get back on her feet. Everything’s pretty different for her.”
River and Josephine exchanged gnces again, and their demeanor seemed to visibly soften. Neither one appeared overtly cross with her anymore, though it was hard to be sure. Josephine rocked slightly in her chair, looking back at the rge, round window thoughtfully.
“I’ll wait to say anything on the matter to the council,” Josephine decided. “That will give you time to work and your new friend time to adjust. But I cannot keep it to myself indefinitely. I need to get to the bottom of whatever this business is with your cousin. If we py our cards right, perhaps it will take precedence over the stunt you pulled in Danvers.”
Isabel sat up straighter, her expression hopeful. “I would appreciate that greatly, ma’am.”
“Mm,” Josephine murmured, gncing in her direction before waving her off. “Now go before I change my mind. Let me know what you find.”
On Isabel’s way out, a couple of other men she recognized in passing as some of Josephine’s top enforcers passed her on the stairs. Neither of them acknowledged her, and neither of them said a word. They were more professionally dressed and had a more fearsome bearing than the Varlets. It helped that both were Vampires in their own right. The supernatural interaction that occurred for a Gnasci in the presence of any Vampire made them appear much more intimidating.
“Hey,” Isabel said to a young woman cleaning up behind the bar. “Can I borrow your phone?”
“Sure,” the young woman said cheerfully, pulling a pin white corded phone out from under the bar to pce on the countertop.
“Thanks,” Isabel murmured as she took the phone and dialed the number for her apartment. She wasn’t sure if Meghan would pick up or if she was familiar with how answering machines worked. Isabel couldn’t remember when the damn things were invented.
“Hello?” Meghan’s voice asked tentatively on the other end, affecting a more professional-sounding tone than expected. “Isabel’s residence, may I ask who is speaking?”
Right, Isabel thought, fifties women. She couldn’t help but smirk a little. “So polite. So formal.”
“Isabel?” Meghan responded sheepishly. “I wasn’t sure if I should pick up the phone or not.”
“Probably not, but it’s fine,” Isabel assured her. “I have to take a little jaunt up to Mass General on an errand. I know I said you should stay inside ‘til I got home, but if you’re feeling comfortable with it, maybe you want to meet me there?”
“Absolutely,” Meghan replied eagerly. She must have been dying to get out of the house. TV would have been a great distraction for her, but Isabel hadn’t bothered to have the cable hooked up, and the antenna was trash. “Are you going there now?”
“Yeah, I’ll probably be there before you. I have a few tokens for the T on the dresser, though. You should catch up pretty quickly,” Isabel instructed. “I’ll meet you out front.”
“Sounds like a bst. I’ll grab my shades and split,” Meghan responded, sounding a little stilted. “Later.”
Isabel stood in silence for a moment, holding the phone a few inches from her face. Had Meghan been trying to sound cool just then? Was it because of what she said about being so polite and formal?
“All done?” the girl behind the bar asked, snapping the Gnasci out of her stupor.
Isabel handed the phone over. “Yeah, uh... thanks.”
As she turned and made her way out of the Orchid, Isabel made a mental note that they would have to work on Meghan’s vernacur if she was going to attempt to sound cool anytime soon.
