caffeine for your manna. Your magical energy. Or whatever you kids are calling it these days. Just a boost. Usually I mix them for mortal practitioners who want to get into the serious stuff. I don’t make it as potent for them, though.”
“But it’s just a stop gap. What do I do next?”
“I don’t know, brother Sebastian. I’ve reached the limits of my knowledge on this score.” He closed his eyes as he toked his joint once more. For a moment it looked like he’d fallen asleep, then he sighed out a stream of sweet smelling smoke, which made him resemble a dozing dragon. “I guess there is someone,” he said, eyes still closed. The hesitance in his voice worried me.
“You guess?”
He opened his eyes and gave me a serious stare. “I really don’t… Ah, fuck it. How much worse can your situation get, right?”
“Come on, Sly. Don’t jinx me. I’ve had enough bad luck for one night.”
“There’s a…guy. I could connect you with him, I suppose.”
“This so-called guy can help me?”
“I don’t know. But he’ll know more about all this than either of us put together.”
“Who is he?”
Sly regarded the burning tip of his joint as if it might tell him something he really needed to know. He hummed softly, then flicked some ash onto the floor and drew so hard on the joint he burned it to a nub. He pulled a cheap metal ashtray like the kind you used to find in fast food restaurants before all public places went non-smoking. He set the ashtray on the counter and stubbed out his roach while exhaling.
“His name is Toft Kitchens.”
“Seriously?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t name him.” The growl in his voice told me he wasn’t happy talking about this guy. “But don’t think he’s a joke. He’s anything but.”
“Is he an alchemist like you? A sorcerer? The boogey man? What’s the deal, Sly?”
He gave me a flat stare. “He’s a four-hundred year-old vampire.”
My jaw dropped so wide it almost came unhinged. “You…in the condition I’m in, you want me to go see a vampire?”
“No, I don’t want you to, but what the hell? If someone’s going to know how to deal with this, he will. And he’s one of the…tame ones.”
Yes, there were plenty of vamps who played by Ministry rules, who fed only on the willing, or took their blood from animals or underground blood banks. They kept to themselves and did whatever vampires did for fun. But that didn’t exactly make them nice. And they normally didn’t like dealing with humans, as it was hard enough for them to control their appetite without having tasty treats waved in front of them all the time.
And since they mostly had to operate during the night, their occupations tended to skew to the more illicit brand.
Still, Sly made a good point. I was utterly screwed if I couldn’t get this infection out of me. So what difference did it make walking into the den of an ancient and probably massively powerful vampire? The worst he could do was kill me and then make me his slave.
Oh. When I put it that way…
“Well?”
I blinked. I must have faded there a minute. I desperately needed some sleep.
“What?”
“You want his address?”
I nodded.
He pulled out a pad and paper from under the register and scribbled out an downtown address. Handed the slip over to me. “This is his club. Obviously, you should wait until after dusk to see him. There isn’t long now before dawn.”
“I’ll probably want to clean up before I see him anyway. Walking in all covered with blood and a nasty bite mark on my throat could make for a poor first impression.”
Sly chuffed, but there was no humor in it. “Let me give you a lift home.”
“That would be great,” I said, then remembered what I had to face there. “Though it’s going to be a while before I get any sleep, I think.”
Chapter Nine
“I thought you said your car was upside down on your lawn,” Sly said as he pulled his Caddy into my driveway.
Sure enough, it wasn’t
“But it’s just a stop gap. What do I do next?”
“I don’t know, brother Sebastian. I’ve reached the limits of my knowledge on this score.” He closed his eyes as he toked his joint once more. For a moment it looked like he’d fallen asleep, then he sighed out a stream of sweet smelling smoke, which made him resemble a dozing dragon. “I guess there is someone,” he said, eyes still closed. The hesitance in his voice worried me.
“You guess?”
He opened his eyes and gave me a serious stare. “I really don’t… Ah, fuck it. How much worse can your situation get, right?”
“Come on, Sly. Don’t jinx me. I’ve had enough bad luck for one night.”
“There’s a…guy. I could connect you with him, I suppose.”
“This so-called guy can help me?”
“I don’t know. But he’ll know more about all this than either of us put together.”
“Who is he?”
Sly regarded the burning tip of his joint as if it might tell him something he really needed to know. He hummed softly, then flicked some ash onto the floor and drew so hard on the joint he burned it to a nub. He pulled a cheap metal ashtray like the kind you used to find in fast food restaurants before all public places went non-smoking. He set the ashtray on the counter and stubbed out his roach while exhaling.
“His name is Toft Kitchens.”
“Seriously?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t name him.” The growl in his voice told me he wasn’t happy talking about this guy. “But don’t think he’s a joke. He’s anything but.”
“Is he an alchemist like you? A sorcerer? The boogey man? What’s the deal, Sly?”
He gave me a flat stare. “He’s a four-hundred year-old vampire.”
My jaw dropped so wide it almost came unhinged. “You…in the condition I’m in, you want me to go see a vampire?”
“No, I don’t want you to, but what the hell? If someone’s going to know how to deal with this, he will. And he’s one of the…tame ones.”
Yes, there were plenty of vamps who played by Ministry rules, who fed only on the willing, or took their blood from animals or underground blood banks. They kept to themselves and did whatever vampires did for fun. But that didn’t exactly make them nice. And they normally didn’t like dealing with humans, as it was hard enough for them to control their appetite without having tasty treats waved in front of them all the time.
And since they mostly had to operate during the night, their occupations tended to skew to the more illicit brand.
Still, Sly made a good point. I was utterly screwed if I couldn’t get this infection out of me. So what difference did it make walking into the den of an ancient and probably massively powerful vampire? The worst he could do was kill me and then make me his slave.
Oh. When I put it that way…
“Well?”
I blinked. I must have faded there a minute. I desperately needed some sleep.
“What?”
“You want his address?”
I nodded.
He pulled out a pad and paper from under the register and scribbled out an downtown address. Handed the slip over to me. “This is his club. Obviously, you should wait until after dusk to see him. There isn’t long now before dawn.”
“I’ll probably want to clean up before I see him anyway. Walking in all covered with blood and a nasty bite mark on my throat could make for a poor first impression.”
Sly chuffed, but there was no humor in it. “Let me give you a lift home.”
“That would be great,” I said, then remembered what I had to face there. “Though it’s going to be a while before I get any sleep, I think.”
Chapter Nine
“I thought you said your car was upside down on your lawn,” Sly said as he pulled his Caddy into my driveway.
Sure enough, it wasn’t
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