“Pass.”
The woman’s face turned dark, and she opened her mouth to speak. It was quite entertaining to watch. Made my smart-ass comment worth it.
Jerry got there first. “Aileen, I would take it as a personal favor if you were to do this job.”
That might change things.
One thing I’d learned since my transformation is that favors carried more weight than money. A favor from an influential or powerful being was worth a lot. They could be collected and called in at the owner’s leisure. You never knew when something like that would come in handy. It’s how I got this job in the first place. If it hadn’t been for that favor the captain called in, I would be in a very different place. One not quite as comfortable and one that definitely would have meant letting my family think I was dead.
“Any limits to this favor?”
“Nothing that will put this organization at risk.”
“Not a very useful favor then,” I observed.
“You’re not really in a position to negotiate,” the woman said. “Think of what would happen if word of your existence got ‘round to the wrong people.”
Vampires were rare. Very rare. We were supposedly powerful, though you couldn’t tell that from me, but we took time to grow into that power. For the supernatural world, I was basically the equivalent of an infant.
Vampires also existed in clans or families. It was practice that if one of the vampires in a clan managed to successfully turn a baby vamp, their progeny would be raised in the clan for one hundred years. It was basically an indentured service. A sort of ‘hey, thanks for totally disrupting my life. Now let me devote the next hundred years to your interests and goals and pray you don’t get me killed in the meantime.’
Not really something I wanted any part of. I’d had enough of being the good little soldier while in the Army. Don’t get me wrong. Being a soldier was one of the best, most worthwhile things I’d done. It gave me discipline, made me grow up and opened my eyes in ways that most civilians will never experience. I wouldn’t change a minute of it even if I knew I’d end up as a vampire, never again to sit on the beach roasting myself under the summer sun.
Besides, I’d never been much of a joiner—the sole exception being the Army.
“So, you’re threatening me now?” I asked, looking back at Jerry.
“No, that’s not what we’re doing.” He quelled the woman with a look. “I’m asking that you step out of your comfort zone to do me a favor.”
He must have been pretty desperate to push like this. It made me wonder why he didn’t just do the delivery himself or send the woman. I still hadn’t quite figured out what she was, but from the confrontational way she positioned herself at his shoulder, I assumed she had some power. That, or she just wasn’t afraid of the baby vamp.
It would be a mistake to take this job.
“Fifteen thousand and no limit on the favor.”
“You-”
“Done,” Jerry said firmly.
I nearly whistled in appreciation. Hadn’t really thought he would go for my conditions.
He selected a folder to the right of him and slid it over to me. Though her face hadn’t changed expression since I sat down, the woman’s presence nearly boiled with frustration. It was unsettling. Most people—their eyes shift, their mouths smile or tighten. They fidget or gesture. This woman could have been a statue.
I couldn’t figure out what she was. Not a witch. For all their power, they were very human in appearance. She didn’t have the same feel as a shifter.
“This has all the information you need. The pickup is near Easton. You need to be there by ten or the punishment clause will kick in.”
“And that is?”
“That’s between you and the client. You’ll get more details from him once you make the pickup.”
Already I was rethinking my agreement in taking this job. It was a quarter after nine now. It would take me nearly an hour to ride my bike all the way over to that area of town.
Before I could protest, Jerry reached into the desk drawer next to him and withdrew keys. I caught them before they could hit my head.
“Take Cherry. Your bike isn’t going to be fast enough for this job.”
I stared at him wordlessly.
