Bound

Chapter EIGHT

Rebecca



I woke up around noon the next day with a terrible stomach ache. It was a new experience for me, to go through the weakness of human digestion, and I didn't enjoy it. I kneeled over the toilet, waiting for a sign that the burger and fries would be rejected, but in the end I was stuck with the discomfort.

It took almost ten minutes for me to shed all of Elyse's charms in order to shower. If I was going to get close to Sarah, I couldn't go in smelling like blood and fast-food. I washed the smells out, enjoying the feel of hands through long hair, and the sensation of the warm water on the body. I checked her over for cuts and bruises, finding only a small bit of discoloration on the wrist the were had grabbed. I shook my head, still not accustomed to the frailty of mortal flesh, and then shut off the water. Once I was dry, I let Elyse take over. I had taken the trinkets off, but I didn't know how to put them all back on in the right places.

"Nice work with that were," she said, once her voice was returned. She was fast putting her stuff back on. I assumed that was why she started talking. She wasn't ready to be an observer again quite yet.

"He was as agile as a rock," I said. The were really had been no match for anyone with skill. "You would have handled him just as easily."

"Maybe. I think the more important question is - what was he doing in a McDonald's looking for a toy? It's brazen, even for a were."

The thought had crossed my mind last night, before I had fallen asleep. What had he been thinking, stepping out into public like that? Weres could avoid humans all day, but attract too much attention and the angels would come looking for you. Attacking a mortal in a restaurant was the definition of attracting attention, and unless you were Great an angel versus a single were was always a win for the angel. Always.

"Something's happened to the angels," I said. "At least around here."

"That was my thought."

"Okay, but what?"

She wandered out into the bedroom and pulled a fresh pair of undies from the backpack. She slipped them on and then put yesterday's outfit on top. Traveling light meant wearing dirty clothes.

"The changelings?"

"Can't be. You saw the vampire back in Japan. He wouldn't hold his piss against a seraph."

"True. Hey, do you mind if I drive for awhile. It's a little boring, being-"

I shut her up by taking control. We weren't friends, we were business partners, and I wasn't interested in any efforts to change that.

There were police cars outside the McDonald's when I left, and they were talking to the cashier from the night before. I started towards the Porsche, until I saw they had recognized the stolen car too. An officer was standing next to it, on his radio while another man prepped it for towing. I cursed under my breath and headed back the other way. The parking attendant was sure to have described my appearance to them, because I hadn't thought to glamour myself.

Out of view, I pressed the glove to my cheek and pictured a different face taking the place of Elyse's. Then I went one step further and put myself in uniform, peeking around the corner to make sure I got the details right.

There was no way to be sure it had worked, so I took a deep breath and stepped out from my hiding spot, trying to make it look like I had walked around from the other side of the building. In this form, the police made me more nervous than any were could. The Divine didn't care that much about bullets. I wished I could have said the same.

"What's the situation?" I asked, approaching the officer by the Porsche.

He looked at me, his head traveling up and down. "Are you one of the new recruits? I don't think I've seen you on this beat before?"

I smiled and nodded. "Officer Smith," I said. "I just got switched to days."

He rubbed his chin with his hand. "I'm surprised they let that go through. There's been a lot of crazy crap happening lately. Like that a*shole that tried to rob the Mickey Dee's over there. He must have been on something, messing up the place and then taking off. I think he had an accomplice who stole this car from the airport too, but then they just leave it here? And then there was the guy who was eating there. He says some ninja chick was fighting with a werewolf, and that's how everything got trashed. We checked him for drugs, but he came up clean."

"Wow," I said. "That is crazy."

He laughed. "So, why did they send you over here? I think we've got everything under control."

I hesitated, but not long enough to make him suspicious. "They didn't send me. I was just on routine patrol, and I saw the action."

"Heh, yeah, I used to do that a lot when I was young. A few years, you'll realize that you're better off not knowing as often as you can get away with it."

I laughed along with him, and laid eyes on his squad car, trying to judge how far I could get before the other cops noticed. There was only one way out of this.

I let go of Elyse, feeling myself becoming immaterial again. With a final lucent thought, I aimed myself at the officer and pushed. We were so close, I was in him before he could take another breath. I clamped down on his soul, and shuddered as his memories flew through me. It was the emotions that always caused the most pain, and this guy had some pretty nasty ones. It gave me new respect and understanding for his earlier statement.

"Rebecca?" Elyse asked, looking at me. I knew she could See me through her Eye.

"Hey buddy," I said to the tow truck driver. He stood up to look at me. "You good?"

He gave me a thumbs up. "Yessir."

"Then I'm gonna take off. It's almost the end of my shift." I started walking towards the policeman's car, Elyse trailing behind. We got in and I drove us out of there, through the back so the other officers wouldn't see.

"That was fantastic," she said while we exited the parking lot and made our way back to the Long Island Expressway.

"It was necessary," I replied. My voice was thick and deep. "I didn't want them all chasing after us." I looked over at her. "When I let him go, you let him go. Got it?" I didn't want her killing a policeman. Talk about trouble.

"But-"

I slammed on the brakes, stopping the car in the middle of the road. Tires squealed behind us, but nobody raised a fuss. "The guy in the parking garage knows what you look like. You kill a cop, and we'll never get off this island."

She held up the hand with the glove, and waved at me. "Do you want to bet? This is war, Rebecca, and there's no room for compassion."

"How can you be such a hypocrite?" I asked. "You're as dirty as he is, if not more. You let me in on purpose. He has no choice."

She started to say something and then stopped, shrinking back into the seat. I accelerated gently, satisfied that I had won that round.

We were in Montauk three hours later. I'd lived in New York for all of my vampiric life, before going to Hell. The only two things I knew about the place was that there was a lighthouse at the end of it, and a lot of wealthy people lived nearby. I had been there once when I had been little. Merov had brought me to a large mansion on the oceanfront to meet with a lesser fiend. I didn't know what kind of business they had done that day, but we'd never gone back. I don't think Merov liked the sand that much.

We drove slowly down Main Street, watching the people walking past the rows of quaint shops and restaurants, as though Sarah was going to just appear out of thin air, maybe doing some antiquing or finishing up at one of the diners. I didn't see her, and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Everyone here was human, as far as I could tell.

"No idea where she's staying?" I asked.

"You heard Joe. The triangulation wasn't precise. She has to be in the area. The fact that there aren't any other Divine around only convinces me more."

"You think they're staying away?"

She nodded. "I wouldn't get to close to her, if I was Divine."

We pulled over into an empty spot on the side of the road. "It's time to ditch the car," I said. "I can put him to sleep for a little while. Plenty of time for us to disappear."

"Yeah, you're probably right." She closed her eyes and waited.

I sent a message to the officer that he was really tired, and needed to sleep for a while, and then I let him go. I floated away, back to Elyse. This time when we joined, it didn't hurt at all.


I left him sleeping there and started walking along the main strip, peering into the windows of the shops just in case Sarah was in one of them. She wasn't, but I hadn't expected it to be that easy.

"Where are you, Sarah?" I whispered under my breath. It had been two months. If the Divine were staying away right now, they wouldn't be forever. Maybe that was why she had reached out to Ulnyx?

I walked east along the strip once, not wanting to double back because I didn't want the officer to find me. He would wake up with a headache and no memory of what had happened to him, and probably just drive himself back home to deal with the consequences of vanishing like that. It was better than the Korean man had gotten.

Finding nothing in town, I headed south until I reached the beach. Seeing the pale sand brought back memories of that single trip I had made with Merov. I had never actually gone out onto it, because water and vampires didn't mix very well. That didn't matter now, and I walked forward, leather boots sinking into the sand. I bent down and picked some up, letting it slip through my fingers and feeling a sense of amazement at the stuff. For all of our strength, there were some places the humans did have us beat.

I continued east along the ocean, finding an almost instinctive enjoyment in the sound of the water crashing onto the sand. It was too cool for swimmers, but a lot of others were just walking, finding the same base comfort in the majesty of it.

I should have known He would bring me to Sarah, as soon as I forgot that I was looking for her.