About three seconds later, Death Suck wrapped up their concert extravaganza and the lights came on. Thousands of blurry-eyed teenagers with damaged hearing began filing out through the exits.
“Come with me,” Steven said to me.
His friend snickered. “Yeah, baby. Then you can come with me. Get it? Heh heh.”
I looked at the kid and channeled my thrall. “Go home, little boy.”
“Okay, bye.” His eyes glazed. He turned around and left without another word.
I followed behind Steven, keeping a close eye on the back of his stringy-haired head as we moved through the thick crowd. Finally I managed to clamp my hand down on his shoulder to stop him for a second.
“Where are we going?” I asked. “Are you going to do the location spell for me?”
“Maybe. Follow me.”
He started walking again.
“About what happened yesterday,” I said. “When you were possessed—”
He looked at me and his eyes widened a bit. “Yeah. I told you the dark magic had touched you already. I guess it must have recognized you again.”
“Will you still be able to do the eradication again if I have no other choice?” I asked. “You gave me the impression it might be possible.”
“Forget it. Not going to happen.” He shuddered. “In fact, I’d prefer never to go that deep again. No more vampire clients. Stupid demonic energy almost made me too sick to come to the concert tonight. Besides, I got a new job. Dude’s paying me loads for my mad skills.”
The crowd was thick and warm as it spilled outside and I forced myself to think about anything other than the collective scent of appetizing teenagers, all so vulnerable and tasty.
All in all, I was rather proud of my control so far tonight. Maybe it would be difficult, but not impossible, to keep my nightwalker at bay indefinitely. It was like a muscle I hadn’t flexed very much. Maybe I could simply use those new muscles to push aside any dark thoughts like thick, sticky cobwebs.
Like a recovering drug addict, I could recite the Serenity Prayer to myself when things got tough.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can—
And, uh… etcetera.
Obviously I’d have to memorize that at a later date.
I kept following Steven as the crowd dissipated, everyone heading for public transit or the surrounding parking lots. Or off to a restaurant or bar to recover from the audial onslaught. The CN Tower stood tall and grand next to us, reaching up to the sky like something really tall and pointy and iconic.
Funny. I’d never before noticed how very much it resembled one big-ass, tall, wooden stake. I shuddered at the thought.
The hum and buzz of the crowd faded away. The fresh air helped me concentrate on things other than the scent of humans.
Don’t you think it was surprisingly easy to find Steven? my nightwalker slid into my thoughts. A little too easy, maybe? Makes one wonder, doesn’t it?
I frowned. “Actually, now that you mention it…”
“This way.” Steven didn’t turn around as he jogged down a short flight of stairs and through a little snow-covered parkette lined with benches at the base of the stake-shaped landmark.
“I can’t believe I found you tonight,” I told the back of his moving head. “It’s amazing, really. I wished on a star… or rather an airplane… and then I just happened to be in front of the concert. Talk about fate.”
“It’s not fate,” Steven said. “I summoned you.”
I stopped walking for a second in shock and had to run a bit to catch up to him again.
“You summoned me? What are you talking about?”
“My new client wanted me to find you. So I sent out some of my magic to draw you here.
And, hey, it worked. Which is good, since I really don’t want to piss this guy off.”
I swallowed as Steven turned the corner leading to the street. “This client… what’s his name?”
“Mr. Chase,” he said simply. “You already know him, right? He said he found me because you came and saw me the other day and he was impressed with my magical abilities.
Dude’s paying me five Gs for tonight.”
“That’s why you found me? For the money?”
Steven cleared his throat. “Also, he’s got my mom somewhere, but he promises not to hurt her. And he let me come to the concert, so obviously he’s cool. Scary, but cool.”
The back door of a black Lincoln Navigator idling at the curb opened up and a tall man stepped out. He was dressed all in black and even had a black scarf around his now rescarred face. I could see the physical pain in his green eyes as he watched me approach.
“See, Sarah?” Gideon said. “I told you I’d find you.”
The nightwalker half of me was delighted to see him.
The rest of me hated surprises. I used to love them when they meant birthday parties and gifts and cake. Not so much anymore.
“Sorry for the scarf,” he said. “It’s a little overly dramatic, I know. But I happened to lose my wristwatch earlier this afternoon, didn’t I?”
“I’m glad you found me,” I said even though my voice sounded shaky. “I’ve been looking for you. I want to get this over with.”
“You do?” He seemed surprised by that. “I thought you might give me a hard time. I was certain your master vampire lover wouldn’t let you out of his sight anymore.”
“He didn’t. I basically ran away from home so I could find you.”
I couldn’t see the expression on his covered face but I got the impression he was smiling at that.
“Intriguing. I’d even say it was borderline romantic if I wasn’t sure that you’re not so happy with me anymore.”
I tensed. “It’s like you’re psychic, or something.”
“Do you still agree to sire me? Despite your newfound hate for me.”