Life After Death
Chapter 4
"Harry Dresden is dead."
The annoying squawk box next to the ten foot tall heavy perimeter fence gate informed me but of course because it was the latest in high tech it was only barely able to work through the high pitched static and ear piercing whine. Picture the worse drive thru experience of your life and you are likely getting close to exactly what I was facing except of course you would have the off chance of actually getting food eventually and I was sitting out here in the dark and suddenly hungry. But hey, it's not like I hadn't figured this night was going to be complicated from the very get go or anything. Some nights it is just better not to get out of bed.
The fact that the one key piece of evidence in Stallings case had been a note written in Latin, which was for the last two thousand years the preferred language for high end magical related conversations, and that this letter referred prominently and multiple times to 'blood' was disturbing. It was certainly not the best bit of news for me to focus all my thoughts upon for almost the full day when almost the only other thing I had to do is sleep. You know how people say they will catch up on their sleep when they are dead? Take it from me after about a week of catch up you really would like a video game or television or something to tide you over. Being a wizard normally books satisfied these occasional types of cravings for time fillers but my best source had been in the apartment and were turned to ashes and as I was dead it would not be good for me to appear on a Barnes and Noble camera since the FBI had the ability to search bookstores nowadays.
So I stewed on the word blood as I waited until eight o'clock that night before deciding it was time to risk going out or else going totally bonkers. I established a new type of temporary ward on my current place of residence to subtly deter those who might be snooping on me. Since it was not technically a place I owned or rented I felt it was wrong to go with the types of wards that could cause real damage or death. Besides those types of big noisy wards merely told people that a wizard was about and that was something I wanted to avoid.
Turning back to the discussion on blood, I knew there is lots of things in the magical side of the world that deal directly with blood. There are the types of creatures that feel off of it, most notably like the Red and Black Court vampires. There are the magical connotations of using it as a spell component such as for use in creating a mystical circle or even as an ingredient in some types of potions. Then there is the intrinsically value that some otherworldly beings place on it, making the collection of blood types such as Super Bowl quarterback, college virgin, or the rarest of all – honest politician, as pleasing a hunt as some humans find with stamp collecting. And lastly, there were beings who merely liked its color and used the fluid for painting; mostly just ghastly pictures but sometimes rooms or even entire homes. For all I knew the note Stallings had found was a reminder to some immortal demon to pick up paint supplies on the way home before starting his masterpiece work of the rare maroon komodo dragon.
From a private detective standpoint the easiest and most direct thing to do would be to call Stallings and see if he had the note translated yet. However, as the private detective who should be dead which makes you a fugitive on the run from the FBI calling the station again, especially this early when everyone was still awake, overrode the direct approach in my book.
With a little time to reassess I figured having gone to see him last night was not probably the brightest thing I had ever done if I was trying to stay low key and figure out what was going on in Chicago since my 'death.' Unfortunately I had to confirm what Marcone had said and without all his contacts calling Stallings direct had been my only option and it had worked though in a somewhat limited fashion. Now though I had to figure out a way to learn what that note actually said because it was likely the only way I was going to really find out what was happening. That meant calling Stallings. But still I'd put that on the backburner until later when I had no other choice. I considered myself a private detective so I needed to look to other ways of figuring things out.
I figured I would start at the top of my hit list. As I said there are certain types of magically related beings who have a disproportional interest where blood is concerned; vampires being the most notable. The fact that this incident at the zoo was coming down within a week of the destruction of the vampires of the Red Court who fed off of blood made for an interesting coincidence that deserved investigation at the very least.
The spell that had killed off the court had been truly powerful and mostly fueled by blood sacrifices, but I had no way to know if it had been one hundred percent successful or merely just ninety nine. What I had been told was that the spell was designed to kill only those of one family bloodline, not everyone through the six degrees of separation. Maybe there were more Red Court families than the primary one we had taken down. The White Court I knew was that way. Therefore, it seemed that investigating if there was traditional blood sucking vampire activity in the city of Chicago seemed a good place to start tonight.
When looking for this kind of information there really are only two reliable sources a person can go to without having to call up demons and make infernal bargains. The first is by regular ground pounding by checking up with the local morgues for bloodless corpses or with law enforcement authorities for a sudden spike in missing persons.
The problem with both of these was again that minimizing my contact with the police remained an important factor in my life and freedom of movement at the moment. My regular contact down at the morgue, Waldo Butters, unrecognized polka star to the royal families of Europe, was also not someone I could safely speak with just yet. Just a week ago a paid hit man had put two nine millimeter rounds in his back from nearly point blank range just because Butters happened to be standing between me and the gunman. If Waldo had not been wearing a bullet proof vest the world of polka would have suffered a tragic loss that night it might never recover from. I was sure the bruises from those rounds had not faded yet. Therefore I had to keep him ignorant of my condition until I was in a better position to protect him.
More importantly I also recognized that if vampires were indeed behind what was going on they would be overly cautious because of the near total extinction of their species and therefore would be scrambling to recover whatever power they might retain. It only made sense then that when they fed these creatures would go to far greater lengths to hide or dispose of the bodies they left behind so any hunters out there looking for them would have a more difficult time of it. So it was unlikely the police would be able to shine any light beyond more people than normal were being reported as missing at the moment. And unfortunately spikes like that were not as rare an occurrence in a city the size of Chicago as you might expect.
The second option I had for learning if vampires were operating in the city was by checking with those who would also feel the effects of these outsiders in town; those mainly being the ones who were already in town. Predators from the animal level to the immortal instinctively understand when new hunters come into their established territory to poach. Few rarely suffered such challenges to their authority quietly and even if this were allowed, those who claimed dominance closely monitored the situation to ensure it did not get out of hand and impact their own interests directly.
In Chicago, since the beginning of the war between the Red Court and the White Council when Bianca's house mysteriously burned to the ground thanks to a rather rash wizard, the White Court of vampires held the dominant predator role. Reds still came to town after that, but mostly as spies or hit teams, not in an attempt to reestablish a power base of their own.
The Black Court was even less seen as they remained few in number after centuries of being actively hunted down. One Black had come back to the city a few years ago seeking revenge for insults she had suffered as a mortal but I had dealt with her and her underlings permanently through liberal doses of pizza shop garlic powder.
The only real Black Court vampire that posed significant concern was a rather powerful one called Marva who has crossed my path a few times over the last few years and lived – unlived?- to tell the tale. I learned she was also a rather skilled wizard, nearly on par with the higher echelons of the White Council, and this was in addition to her vampiric abilities. All of which put her on my mental list as one of those beings I wanted to avoid if at all possible.
So since the police were out of the question as a vampire hunting source I figured the White Court was my next best option for determining if there were other vampires about in our fair city. Normally my relationship with Thomas would have provided me the perfect means to get this question answered without a lot of huff, but again he was another link to the life of Harry Dresden that I did not want to talk with just yet. That meant instead I needed to speak off the record with his older sister Lara who was in fact the true power behind the throne in the White Court.
I also figured if anyone would be okay with me 'rising from the dead' and still keeping it a secret it would have to be a vampire right? Of course that meant actually getting past her security in order to talk to her in the first place, which brings me back to my current situation of sitting outside the White Court mansion and talking on a failing two way security system.
"Look I said I have a message about Harry Dresden and can you please tell Ms. Lara Raith that I need to speak to her immediately?" I said while sitting in the Mustang and staring at the security camera which was likely not working well either.
"Harry Dresden is dead and Ms. Raith is currently entertaining guests." The guard said twice through the static before I was able to understand him. I knew there was an incredibly wide variation on just what Lara Raith might be doing by 'entertaining guests.' Some of which would be so benign to merely make the average dominatrix blush but others might actually require an emergency Council of Cardinals at the Vatican to see if the seven deadly sins need to be amended to include one or two more items due to her creativity. Lara Raith was like any woman, only more so, and so disturbing her in the midst of something like this would not be taken lightly. Thankfully the guard provided another option that might allow both of us to live through the night. "If there is another member of her family that you would like to speak with who is not equally engaged I can try to contact them for you."
Well the guard was trying to be helpful at least. Unfortunately the only other member of the family that I could talk to would be Thomas and like I said that was a nonstarter before I gave it any additional consideration. But then why did I have to restrict myself only to family when there was another viable option that might work almost as well as the Lady of the Court as well? "Is Ms. Raith's assistant Justine perhaps available?" I asked knowing that Justine would not be actively partaking of these same activities as her mistress so providing she was not out running an errand for Lara she should be free to at least speak with me through the security system.
"I will go check. Please pull your car over to the parking area to let other traffic through. There are additional guests arriving for tonight's event. Someone will be with you momentarily." The guard responded with an obvious sense of relief in his voice and then likely started trying to track down Justine as I did what was asked and parked the car.
I did so none too soon for a vehicle that had all the standard hallmarks of an actual City of Chicago school bus pulled up to the gate and was almost immediately waved through by guards standing nearly invisible inside behind bulletproof statuary. The guards were carrying automatic weapons, likely with armor piercing or fragmentation rounds, which made me both happy I had not more forcefully pushed my case for entrance and long for the protective wards that used to strengthen the previous duster.
The bus was actually filled with people dressed in letterman jackets, preppy private school clothes, cheerleader uniforms, and of course a smattering of Catholic schoolgirl outfits. Thankfully all those dressed up looked to be older than the age of consent by at least a year or two. All of them, boys and girls, were also incredibly attractive. I no longer sat there wondering just what was on the literal menu for Lara Raith and company tonight; I knew right then what those of the White Court considered 'the other white meat.'
It took about ten minutes of further waiting until headlights far up the driveway began making their way through the tree lined and curving driveway toward this gate before stopping. The same pair of guards once more emerged from their hidden observation points and this time opened only the smaller personal access gate to allow me to enter before pointing me with a word spoken to the same white limousine, or one at least very similar, that that I had rode in before from the gate to the manor house. Yes the driveway of the Raith estate was so long as to require vehicle transportation to the house. The family undoubtedly paid more in property taxes alone to the State than I have ever made in a single year.
The driver held the door and I got inside the back of the car, expecting an escort at least like the previous times but instead there was only the driver. He got back into his own seat and noted my look of confusion. "The Raiths did not wish you to think that you were building up any obligation with the family by accepting their personal hospitality so I was told to inform you that you would instead be met once we reach the manor."
I merely grunted in affirmative and leaned back into the farthest seat in the rear of the car that was almost the area of a king sized bed. Know the proclivities of the White Court's tastes I was happy that there was a faint smell of disinfectant and leather cleaner on all of the seats and forced myself not to think of why someone thought that particular bit of cleaning was necessary. It was not that I was particularly afraid of the idea of vampires and people having sex, I just did not need that particular portion of my mind engaged on the concept right before I spoke to Lara Raith.
The drive took nearly three minutes and we were moving at about forty miles an hour so I leave it to you to do the math on just how long that driveway really is. Thankfully there were no issues during that time from the mundane ones of the car breaking down because of my presence, to the only slightly less uncommon attack on the car itself with bullets, explosions, magic, or by hell spawned beasts. Really I must admit, my life is fairly interesting when you look at it objectively.
I would have opened the door myself once we stopped but of course those living in style do not ever open their own doors so there was no handle on the inside to be able to perform that particular action. The driver or another servant literally had to open the door from the outside. And before you think what a death trap this would be for the head of the White Court to be trapped in, consider that I have seen Lara tear through things just like this door with as little effort as if she were crushing a beer can and you would understand her security was not ever compromised.
In this case it was Justine who opened the door. She was a girl of only average height, extended upward only slightly at the moment by proper business-like white leather two inch heels. Along with the shoes she wore an expensive tailor made three piece sliver sheen white suit with actual pure silver buttons that screamed both efficiency and elegance. This matched perfectly to her ivory skin and silver white hair that was pulled back into a professional ponytail that hung down to her shoulders and the simple pearl earrings that dangled from each lobe.
The only non off-white colors that broke through this image were the sparkling blue of her eyes which showed just a slight sense of surprise that I was actually getting out of the car, and the pair of rich blood red roses, one which she wore in her lapel and a second one that she held out for me to take and wear as well.
"Um where I come from the guy usually brings the beautiful girl the flowers." I said with a smile hoping to make her relax and eventually get her on my side. I would need Justine's help if I was going to get to talk to Lara anytime soon.
It took her a moment to process it and she smiled but did not respond to that bit of flattery directly. "The red rose should be worn tonight for it symbolizes that you are not part of the activities of the evening."
"So it's sort of like a get out of jail free card?" I asked sticking the stem through the highest button hole on my coat.
"Exactly." She agreed and turned bidding me to follow her to one of the smaller and more private parlors. From the sounds of music and other activities taking place down the hall I was happy once she closed the thick door that Lara had insisted on good soundproofing when she had remodeled this place after my last visit and the unexpected arrival of a skinwalker.
Justine sat behind the grand desk that was the central piece of furniture in the room while I took one of the chairs across from her. The desk sat incredibly high and the chair low and deep so that by sitting in my chair I could just barely see over the top of the desk. The girl's eyes flashed quickly to two spots to her left and right communicating to me that we were likely being observed or at least listened to by some sort of devices. Providing it was not Thomas on the other end, I was okay with that because it would only make my eventual audience with Lara happen that much faster.
"I heard…" She began though not quite able to keep all the confusion out of her voice.
"Harry Dresden is dead." I finished for her. "Yeah I have been getting that a lot and for the time being perhaps that is best for all those concerned." I explained.
"He took the news badly." Justine said. I knew of course that the 'he' she was referring to was Thomas. "He spends all his time alone and only comes out to feed."
Translation: He won't even talk to me.
"I'm sorry about that but I think it is best for the moment if things remain unchanged." I said with complete honesty. "But the sooner that I get to see Lara hopefully the sooner I can get this all resolved." I explained praying that she understood that telling Thomas I was alive, or worse that I was here, was not a good idea at the present.
"Seeing Lara may be something of an issue. Tonight is a very special event for the members of the Raith Family." Justine said biting her lip. It was one of those natural reactions that made her girl next door beauty explode into sight without even trying. It was probably one of those little indescribable things Thomas had fallen in love with. The fact that this love between them actually kept them from even touching reminded me that there were many private forms of Hell to live with that were easily worse than my own.
"What is it prom night?" I asked thinking on the busload of student costume wearers that had preceded me.
"No it is another type of celebratory event entirely." A voice that just dripped with raw female sexuality spoke unannounced from behind me and drew the attention of both of us immediately like two guilty kids getting caught doing something they knew was naughty.
"That will be all Justine. Please ensure my calendar of events is cleared for tomorrow. I have the sudden suspicion that I shall be sleeping it." Lara said as she entered the room. Justine rose without saying a further word from me or even offering a glance in my direction to meet my eyes since those of the lady of the manor never left her until she had exited the room and pulled the door shut behind her. That left me all alone with the true target of my adventure this evening.
Lara Raith was the female ideal in form and function that artists worldwide have tried unsuccessfully to recreate in sculpture or paintings. Take the Venus de Milo and add five inch stiletto heels and a strategic mind to challenge Alexander the Great and you start to get into the ballpark of just what the head of the Raith Family, and the entire White Court, represented.
I had seen and heard of her various outfits in their many forms and fashions. They were always predominantly white as a symbol of her alliance to her court, and each always projected both power and pure femininity. Today's fashion design was no exception to these rules even if the form that it took literally had me falling out of my seat in surprise only to land gracelessly on the floor.
It was a bridal gown, snow while in color, that accented every perfectly sculpted curve of her body. In making it the tailor required no support enhancement areas since what the material contained did not age from its firm perfection. So that left instead what could be described only as a barely appropriate low cut and high slit sheet of sheer pure silk that was barely film-like in thickness and with some enticing lines of pearls as the only enhancements sewn in such a way as to lead the viewer's eyes to the hidden treasures the dress just barely contained.
The dress left her arms were bare from the shoulders but an equally long pair of fingerless matching silk gloves covered from her palms up to her elbows. Lastly, the traditional bridal veil sitting on her blue-black hair came down to only just barely cover the lower aspect of her storm grey eyes. Her lips smiled at my awkward surprise of her arrival.
"I take it that I meet your approval?" She said stepping forward slowly toward me in a motion that was more correctly described as a catlike slink than anything remotely attempted by humans. Each striding step also revealed the full extent of the scandalous cut of the dress which showed bare, not to mention alabaster-like flawless skin and the well toned muscles of her outer thighs right up to her hips.
I made it back into my chair just as Lara sat down on the edge of the desk right in front of me with her legs slightly parted to expose skin on both and allowing the dress to bunch between them for nod toward actual societal propriety. If you recall how the desk was arranged to the chair you will understand how that particular position placed her in what I will only call a position of strategic advantage to the weapons she wielded.
"Are you getting married?" I asked because I was so taken aback that I could not come up with anything better.
"Why?" She asked leaning forward to allow her white painted nails to trail down each of her thighs offering me in the process an even closer look at what the dress barely contained. "Are you considering providing me an even better proposal?" She teased.
My body responded to this as naturally as any eighteen year old's would even though that small voice in my mind was telling me to resist the temptation. I'm telling you if she had been holding a beer or a piece of cheesecake I probably would not have made it.
"I'm afraid not." I said sitting back further in my chair to increase the distance that lay between us. Not that it mattered the smell of her perfume, light and flowery but with a hint of spice, seemed to linger with me still. "The city does not issue marriage licenses to those who are dead."
"Well we could always skip right to the honeymoon." She said undeterred by my rejection and obviously enjoying her moment of superiority. Damn hormones! "I always thought that was really the best part of that particularly quaint mating custom anyway."
"Obviously you had another already in mind when you slipped into that dress." I replied.
"Oh if the dress is the issue I would be quite happy to take it off if you but were to ask." She smiled causing every synapsis in my body to fire at the thought of it. What can I say? In a family of succubae those who would lead are the best at this particular game. "Tell me how long has it been since a woman has let you take her in any form or fashion of your choosing?" She asked in a tone like one might request the current time.
"It is probably much longer than you would believe." I said nearly hypnotized by her question and answering it without even realizing I had done so. Thankfully that little voice inside my head realized the danger and fought to put me back under control once more.
"How delicious!" She said. "In a house full of virgins this night there is one at least in spirit that I would lose no points by indulging with." Lara's storm grey eyes flashed in pure desire as the pointed end of her tongue licked across her lips enticingly.
Focus! What did she just say? The House of Raith was suddenly overflowing with virgins? Could that have something to do with the Latin message about blood? My brain cleared and the lust I felt parted beneath this strong and steady voice in my mind that helped me focus my will.
"What are the virgins for?" I asked forcing myself forward with a new intensity that made Lara draw back to a more neutral posture than she had been sitting in a moment before.
"A game nothing more." She said waving me away as if the subject were of no consequence.
"I just returned from a Red Court 'game' down in Mexico so you might understand that I am a little leery when I hear about vampires playing games." I said adding just a hint of menace. "And since virgin sacrifices play so prominently in the folklore of both our peoples how about as a professional courtesy you explain to me just what is going on here." I let a little magic from my hand make the staff I was holding glow a little red.
"You would dare to threaten me within my own home?" She said letting her eyes narrow only slightly but adding no direct anger to her voice to push this issue father.
"I made no threats." I said without apology. "I merely asked for a professional courtesy."
She sat back and considered my request and the implications my glowing staff put behind it. Lara knew how to fight. But she also knew from experience that Harry Dresden was not an easy target. There were now literally thousands of dead vampires solely because their kind had constantly underestimated that one particular wizard. Lara was not the type to do so. But then again she could not merely let a challenge to her power go unanswered or she chanced losing face to her kind.
"I offer a favor for a favor." She said with that sweet smile that death wears as it reaches for you. "I will not only provide you with the information that you request about our little activity this evening, but I will even listen to the real request that brought you here instead of returning immediately to my hostess duties as propriety demands."
"In exchange for?" I asked knowing from personal experience that there is always a catch.
"A kiss." She smiled sweetly. "Nothing more than a simple kiss." Said the spider to the fly. "Otherwise this meeting is concluded right now and I kindly ask you to vacate this home so we can continue with our celebrations." The grey of her eyes was as unyielding as the steel it shown like.
I thought about this offer and while I am certain there are many of you out there wondering why I did not jump upon such a simple request that is only because you did not understand the true peril of what was being asked of me. The mere spittle of a Red Court vampire was enough to make most mortals their willing slaves and personal Happy Meals. Red Court vamps at their height with such power are barely pale comparisons of the willingness that a White Court vampire could instill with a single kiss.
On the flip side though I had the advantage of having soulgazed Thomas, a White Court vampire himself, so I understood on a much deeper level just what Lara represented. I have also in the past kissed a White Court vampire which could provide me some immunity to the effect or at least help me try to control the more animalistic aspects of it. And then there was the little voice within me telling me this was the only chance to get her to do what I wanted so I really had no choice in the matter. The fact that this voice was now in agreement with my body's cravings instead of their enemy made a third part of me cautious but the voice explained it would provide what I needed to help me resist her charms. I was outvoted two to one so I agreed.
"Terms accepted for only a single kiss." I said as she scooted forward with a flash of delight in her eyes and a smile on those incredibly lovely lips that began to pucker up. "But I get my information and discussion before you get your 'payment.'" I said.
Her smile turned to just a hint of a pout, which if anything was even sexier at that moment. "You are really no fun sometimes Harry." She said overly dramatically. "But if that is the price to be paid…" She looked at me in such a way as to get my will to bend. I heard a Monty Python voice in my head saying 'It's just a little peril…'
"It is!" I said firmly neither moving forward into her web nor moving back to show fear.
"Oh well if you insist." Lara said and straightened back up taking on a more business demeanor. "The Virgin Ball is a once a decade tradition we of House Raith established nearly a century ago." She began her explanation. "Consider it the White Court Olympics if you will."
"The game is relatively harmless, at least to the mortals who take part in it." She said the words casually but I knew the term 'relatively' means different things to a vampire compared to a mortal. "We collect a hundred attractive virgins, fifty from each sex for proper balance, and bring them here for the competition."
"I'm sorry…" I said. "You collect?"
"We do not kidnap them Harry." Lara said reminding me with her tone that her kind despised straightforward brute tactics. "For this particular session we advertised on the internet and at all the major colleges across the country for virgins above the age of twenty willing to participate in an experiment. We promised both travel expenses and a one thousand dollar retainer for merely a single night of work that would not change their virginal status. As you may guess the money alone for cash strapped college students was often enough to keep our phones ringing."
"Over the course of a few months our members interviewed potential candidates, seeking to keep the most attractive and exclude those who were less than truthful about their purity." Lara stated. I knew Warden Carlos Ramirez had been identified as a virgin by Lara herself so this was obviously a power they had at their disposal when they chose to focus on it. It probably worked along the lines of my Wizard Sight.
"Okay you got your livestock." I said. "What do you plan to do with them?"
"The rules of the game are simple." Lara said. "Each of us in the family who chooses to participate in the games offers up a service of any degrading sort to the winner. We then in turn kiss each of the one hundred virgins in any manner we chose but the rules require that we not allow the kiss to last more than two minutes in duration. At the end of the night when each player has kissed each judge, the one hundred virgins cast a single vote for which of the family they would most like to spend the night with. The family member with the most votes when the tally is completed collects the services of all the other contestants."
Wow that was some sort of high energy game of spin the bottle. "That is it?" I asked thinking this was far too simple for a White Court game.
"Of course not." Lara said. "The trick is not merely to inspire lust. Any one of us can do that sufficiently." I knew that was particularly true. "The test is really to see how much control we have in ourselves and those we seduce. You see if during our kissing session any of our partners step past…how shall I put this since you tend not to indulge this particular aspect of your life…the point of no return…then that member of the White Court loses ten votes cast for them." She said with a smile bereft of apology.
"And I suppose you have won this game of yours before?" I asked knowing the answer before she said it.
"Four decades running." She nodded said with a sense of pride. "It would have been five if it were not for one particularly foolish young boy who I have eternally named the Minuteman in lieu of his particular performance during this activity." The disdain with the way she used the term 'minuteman' did not inspire me to think that she held this young man's memory in same particularly high regard as the nation does for its Revolutionary soldiers.
"And what then becomes of your test subjects?" I asked as the real focus of my concern.
"They are returned to their homes well paid and unspoiled as per the contract they signed." Lara replied without any hint of deception.
I would not be surprised to learn that more than a few of them eventually made their way back or sought out members of the White Court after such a demonstration of the Court's power but that was just as likely to happen if the two groups crossed paths in a nightclub, or even a hair salon as Thomas had so aptly pointed out. In the grand scheme of things this was not a crime that I felt was worth getting myself too worked up about.
"Alright." I said accepting Lara's explanation. "I would not want to keep you from your festivities."
"Oh do not worry about that." She waved me off. "As returning champion I have the benefit of going first. I have already worked though the first fifty so you could call this my halftime entertainment if you will. How much time will you require?" She said biting on her full lower lip in a real 'come and get it' sort of way.
"Just three minutes." I answered.
"Really?" She paused. "How disappointing."
"No pure business." I said. "Two minutes to explain what brought me here and one minute to fulfill my part of the bargain." Take that for making the wrong assumption!
"I am looking for any information on remaining Red Court or Black Court activity in the City of Chicago." I jumped to the heart of the matter immediately rather than getting distracted further.
"I was led to believe you exterminated the entire Red Court last week." Lara said adding a little seriousness to her tone.
"I thought so as well, but it is possible there may be another offshoot house out there that was not affected by that spell." I explained and gave my reasoning.
"And I should help you why?" She asked. "What benefit do I gain by allying with you in this matter?"
"Security for your powerbase of course." I said. "If the Red Court still exists they can restore their numbers much faster than you can grow your own. In a century or less we could be back to where we were just a week ago numbers wise at least." That was unfortunately true and Lara knew it. While a Red Court vampire could convert normal mortals to become one of their own with a simple bite, White Court vampires were bred by mating with mortals. That meant in the nine months it took to breed a new White Court, nearly three hundred Red Court vampires might be created by a single Red.
"Alright I will put the word out to my agents and you can contact Justine in a day or two for what we have learned." Lara agreed much more rapidly than I had expected her to. Like I said she had a mind like a true conqueror and was not about to let an enemy that she now learned might only be gravely injured, rise up to cause her trouble in the future; not if she could kill them off instead and ensure her own security.
"Thank you." I said to her and for the first time did not regret it in any sense.
"You can thank me by paying up." She moved again to the edge of the desk and with her soft hands gripped the lapels of my leather duster and lifted me to my feet right between her outstretch legs. She may only look like a beautiful woman but there was a whole lot of vampire strength in that package as well.
"One last question as a professional courtesy." I said. "Why is this so important to you? What do you seek to gain?"
"It is a matter of simple pride and simple desire." Lara replied. "The last time we kissed we should have died if not for your spell power by the heat we generated. Yet even after that you have never come back seeking another taste which makes you the only mortal to ever to have resisted me to such an extent. I want this kiss to prove to myself that I remain as desirable to you as ever since you have shaken my confidence. And I want it from you because you are the only one who has ever turned my down once you have had even a brief taste of my fruits. That denial is a rare ambrosia like treat to me."
Wow talk about an ego. But then again as far as womanly skills in that area were concerned she certainly was sitting at the pinnacle. "Now come here and kiss me." She said pulling me forward before I could lodge a further delay so that our lips met.
Fire blossomed in my body reaching out to warm all the parts of me, especially those that had lain dormant now for far too long. But even while that fire raged, the cool voice of reason in my head told me how to quench and contain those particular fires in order to keep them from burning out of control and consuming me.
Her legs wrapped instinctually around me and pulled me even closer into her embrace. The heat of her bare skin, even though the heavy leather duster I wore, was nearly scorching. While the kiss carried me along this voice served as the conductor telling me we were arriving at the station soon and that the ride was over.
We broke apart and I turned aside, grateful to note that Lara was one of those females who preferred to kiss with her eyes closed to fully enjoy the other senses as well. This prevented an undesired soulgaze from kicking in and gave me the chance to try and find my balance afterwards. I was thankful that I still had my staff to lean upon so I would not fall over.
I turned to leave since there was nothing more that I could think of to say but Lara stopped me cold. "That is rather odd." She said in a voice filled with intrigue?
"What exactly?" I said making it to the door but knowing I had to hear her out.
"Well I understand the virgin taste is merely a leftover from my earlier activities." Lara said obviously studying me and speculating. "But it was not until just this moment that I realized you kiss as passionately as a girl Harry." She said with a sense of new intrigue and desire for an answer. That was not a conversation that was going to do me any good so I chose to leave and close the door behind me.