Vampire Babylon - Night Rising Part 24

They'd been coming out of a theater...attacked by a man...Matt had seen his parents dying...

While she tried to figure out why it was so familiar, she ran a search on his name. Typical stuff that The Voice and Breisi had already ferreted out: a PI employed by a firm called Ja.n.u.s and Patrick. She skipped over most of the information because it seemed redundant and, besides, it wasn't what she really wanted to know.

She searched for any clue to his parents' names, found nothing. Tried some newspaper databases to check for murders that might match what Matt had told her tonight.

Theater...left through the back door...my dad tried to hand over his wallet...

She was striking out all over the place here. But she continued, never giving up, even as the clock struck three.

Theater...

The long day had mushed her brain, reducing rational thoughts to goop and forcing her to blink to stay awake. The scenario for the Lonigans' murder kept replaying in her mind as she tried to reconstruct it. She even cast it with actors, slightly familiar faces...

Oh, G.o.d.Oh, G.o.d, oh, G.o.d, oh, G.o.d.

Their murder. She'd seen it before. Not tonight, not in her head...

...but on a freakin' cineplex screen.

Not even bothering to shut down the computer, she sprinted out of the room, down the hall, calling for Kiko.

Unbelievable, she kept telling herself. Does Lonigan think I'm some kind of idiot? What kind of mental chess is this guy playing with me?

"Kiko?" Clumsy with fatigue, she came to a slide on the carpet, her leg b.u.mping against the stair railing, right where the vamp-tail injury was healing. Pained, she almost tumbled down the steps, her calf bubbling with a slight throb.

"Kiko!"

Downstairs, the only thing she saw was Breisi's precious door. She flew to it, banging on the thick oak with her fists.

Theater...alley...handed over his wallet...

The door whooshed open to reveal the ap.r.o.ned mad scientist herself, her eyes red with either a lack of sleep or the frustration of being interrupted. Dawn went with the last one.

"What is it?" the older woman ground out.

"Is Kiko down there? You need to hear this, too. I found out something about Lonigan-"

Kiko, somehow still looking as fresh as dew, brought up Breisi's back. It seemed like both of them were blocking the door now, barring Dawn from seeing anything but stone walls bathed in blue light. Behind them, there was the sound of that hum, a metallic heartbeat.

"What're you talking about?" he asked.

"Batman," Dawn blurted. "Matt Lonigan's parents died almost like Bruce Wayne's, just without the vampire c.r.a.p. I remembered it from the movies. He-"

"Breisi, we're gonna go." Kiko bent under Breisi's arm to step upward, past the door. As Breisi shut it behind him, the slam chopped through the house, hatcheting against the high ceilings.

"Come here," he said, guiding her to a plush loveseat in the foyer. The portrait of the fire woman-the one who'd frayed Dawn's nerves that first night-reigned over them, keeping her eyes on Dawn once again.

"Kiko, why would Lonigan do it? Why would he give me such bulls.h.i.t, I mean, aside from the fact that this is Hollywood and just about everyone here has a manufactured biography, but-"

"I don't know. Maybe it's a true story that happens to be similar to Bruce Wayne's. I've heard-and experienced-crazier things. So have you."

Dawn didn't have the umph to argue. She'd run out of gas. Her reasoning had shut down. Complete overload.

"We should probably just go back to my digs, get some sleep," he said.

Maybe that was the best idea. Maybe she could figure everything out tomorrow, when it would all make more sense.

Yeah, Dawn thought, eyes burning with fatigue. She needed the information to settle in, didn't she? Nothing would make sense until she allowed it to.

Breisi's door creaked wide. She emerged, head down, coming toward Dawn and holding a mahogany box. It was open, revealing a set of very smallshurikenset against a blue velvet bed.

Throwing stars. Ninja weapons.

"More tools before you leave." Breisi showcased the silver. "I just put the finishing details on them."

Dawn reached out to touch one, avoiding all of the eight star-sharp points. There were tiny etchings, words. "What's written there?"

"Latin incantations from the Catholic Church that banish evil. I know one of your first stunt jobs was onNinjutsu: The Movie, so I thought you might be comfortable with using theshuriken."

At that, Breisi shoved the box at Dawn. But she wasn't being unkind; no, she was actually being awkward, and it was sort of touching. In a Breisi kind of way.

"They're for me?" Dawn asked.

"Well, yes. Since I knew you were trained in the use of them, I've modified the weapons for your needs. There's some silver, but I managed not to allow that to affect the throwing balance. And each is tipped and blessed with holy water, though you'll want to keep up on that maintenance yourself. If one of these gets buried in a vamp's skin...poof. I hope. The holy water might travel through their bloodstream and inflict internal damage."

Dawn didn't really know what to say. She wasn't used to gifts. "Thank you," was all she managed before she did something dumb like cry. She was just about to, too. The past days had been long, throwing one punch after another at her head and guts.

"De nada," Breisi said.

Shoulders tight, she speed-walked back to her dungeon before Dawn could even glance up again.

Kiko was oohing and ahhing over the weapons. "These are what stealth is all about. Oh, boy, oh, boy." He pretended to pick one up and throw it. "Screw close range fighting-that's for stakes. Screw loud fighting-that's for guns. This...thisis da bomb.

Ninjas forever!"

Good old Kiko and his geek-asms. The appreciation of his weirdness got to her also, welling up and making her eyes sting.

She really did need sleep. Just a few hours of it would get her back to normal.

He must've noticed her inability to control. "Dawn?"

"Long day," she said in a strangled whisper.

"Yeah." He reached out to pat her shoulder.

But when he touched her, he froze.

"Kik?"

His mouth was primed for a scream. A faint gurgle rattled from his throat, his eyes full of cold fear.

She tried to grab him, help him, but he was gripping her shirt with all his strength, holding on to it like it was a branch he'd grabbed during a fall off a cliff.Shirt.Oh, G.o.d. Frank's shirt.

"Breisi!"

She must've heard Dawn's screeching loud and clear, because it didn't take long for her to emerge from the door way again.

When she saw Kiko's terrified pose, she kicked the door shut, ran over to him and helped Dawn to pull him off.

With a strenuous yank, Breisi was successful. Kiko tumbled back into her arms, shivering in the aftermath.

"Is he okay?" Dawn asked. Frank's shirt gaped away from her chest, stretched, revealing her black bra. She was afraid to ask what'd happened, because she knew.

He'd gotten a reading.

Breisi lightly slapped at Kiko's face, but he just stared straight ahead, jaw slack.

"Frank," he said. "Alive."

Breisi cried out, and Dawn clutched at the shirt.

Alive? Was she hearing right? Please, G.o.d, please...

In spite of the tense moment, she and Breisi exchanged hopeful glances, chained together in this endless waiting.

Then Kiko jerked, choking out his next words. "Screaming...Hahh-h...h...hurts, hurts too much."

Dawn dropped to the floor next to him.

He squirmed against Breisi. "Pain...pain!"

Breisi started to weep, rocking Kiko back and forth in her arms, as if he were a subst.i.tute for Frank.

But Dawn didn't lose it-not now, when she was so close. Not when she couldn't do anything but sit here and listen to the terrible progress report.

"Pain, pain...Dawn, where is Dawn?"

She finally realized what was happening. Unlike the calm aftermath of his previous empathic visions, Kiko was in an agony- induced trance this time. A trickle of moisture wiggled out of the corner of his mouth and Dawn wiped it away, oddly concerned for his dignity.

"I'm here, Daddy," she choked out.

"Dawn." Kiko turned his eyes to her, but it was clear he wasn't seeing her. Not at all. "Looking for Robby, went to Bava, and..."

Kiko shuddered, then shot out of Breisi's arms. Dawn caught him, holding him in front of her.

"Bava," Dawn said, needing him to continue. "And...?"

"Bait," Kiko said, gaze finally focusing on Dawn.

On her hands and knees, Breisi backed away, looking the same way she had last night, after she'd seen the photo.

The psychic shook his head, his eyes going soft and apologetic as he held his arms out to Dawn in supplication."I was the bait to get you here."

NINETEEN.

THEMIRROR.

KIKO'Slast comment stripped her of comprehension. It was almost like he'd spoken a foreign language and she was taking forever to translate it, the seconds ticking by in a vacuum.

In this slow-motion draw of time, Dawn noticed that Breisi was hiding her face. Had she known about Frank? Had she and The Voice- Dawn's attention whipped back to Kiko when he hauled in a sharp breath. He blinked his eyes, his pupils contracting to normal size, as if gradually coming back to consciousness.

Back to Dawn who, in spite of her nature, had naively started to trust him.

You idiot, she thought to herself. See what happens when you let down your guard?See?

Her sense of betrayal must've announced itself on her face, her whole body, because as Kiko wiped away the sweat that had popped out over his upper lip, he scrambled to explain.

"Wait, I know everything that just came out of my mouth, Dawn, and it didn't sound like the way things really went down." He glanced at Breisi, as if she could explain.

Trembling. Anger. An urge to tear around this house to find the G.o.dd.a.m.ned Voice.

But she couldn't move, as if iced nails were bolted through her limbs, pinning her to the ground.

"You people used my dad as bait to lure me here? Why?"

She could've answered her own question, but Kiko did it for her.

"My prediction," he said. "You're the one who's key. I saw you..." He glanced at her, sheepish. "...covered in the blood of a vampire, victorious. It was the end of our struggles, Dawn. Ifeltthat everything would be fine after that."

"Youfelt.i.t."

Kiko got to his knees and tried to move closer to her, but she pushed him away, her spine pressed to the loveseat.

"Bait." Breisi barked out a humorless laugh. "Frank decided he was the bait to get Dawn here and he now thinks that's all he was good for."

"He's wrong," Kiko said. "He's searching for a reason for what happened to him."

Dawn had endured enough. She used the seat to lever back to her feet. Her fingers were clawed and ready to strike out. "Where is your boss?"

"Wait, Dawn..."

"Where the f.u.c.k is he!"