Arnold Romney, county police officer, and newly discovered Siren was having a bad day. This was his first day off desk duty, after getting his arm out of the cast.
It was great to have the damn thing off his arm. That had itched like crazy. He was pissed as hell he could not do anything to the guy that broke it. By Siren rules, it was a fair fight, it was just that the fucking Vampire fought like a daemon. It should have been more. Like more than ten to one. Fucking Larry and his secret phone calls to … Whoever. Who the hell knew who really ran the Siren world? You never see them.
Arnold was grouchy.
It was great to be out in his car, cruising the roads of the county and looking for his next prize. It was a beautiful day. He went to his favorite hunting ground, a curved road west of Austin that had a hill on either side, and a lovely place to pull over women, and get them off the road. When the Lexus SUV went by, window down, Arnold saw the flash of Blonde hair and took off after her.
It was perfect. She was in the wide side area of the road, out of sight to anyone but the direct traffic going by. The hills and the curves gave him the perfect seduction alcove. Arnold cleared his throat experimentally as he walked up.
Arnold has always been good at this seduction thing, but ever since he found out he was a Siren and started hanging with other Sirens and working on his voice, he was a lot better. He was not a singer. Not yet. He has always been a chanter, and his spoken cadences were good enough BEFORE he started training that he could seduce female drivers with great regularity. Talk them into all sorts of things to get out of tickets.
He looked over the Lexus as he walked slowly up to it. New. Nothing broken. Brake lights all working. He walked past the open drivers’ window and glanced at the combination inspection and license sticker. The Lexus is less than two years old, so it was still the two year, new car one. When he ran her plates before he walked up, he had her name and the fact that she had no wants or warrants. Her drivers’ license picture had been promising, but the reality of her showed that Driver’s License pictures are always reliably bad.
It seemed she was not married either. Not that Arnold cared. He wanted to have sex, not worry about entanglements.
“Good afternoon, Miss. Nothing to be concerned about here. Routine stop because you were going a little fast through that corner back there. Could I see your drivers license and insurance please?”
The woman was a manager at a gym, according to the quick run of her plates. She looked like it. Blonde, bleached but healthy hair. Trim, in body-hugging gym clothes. Light jacket. Her hands shook as she searched her purse for the requested items. No wedding ring. Again, not that he cared. In fact, sometimes he liked it when they were married. It was fun to cuckold some human guy someplace.
Good.
“Your hands are shaking miss. I am sorry: I know it is a bit frightening to see those flashing lights behind you. I get that a great deal. The downside of being a Cop. Everyone is afraid of us, but I am only here to try and make everyone safer. Slow down. No hurry, miss. Take deep breaths if you need to. There is nothing wrong with your car. All your lights are working. Your sticker is current. I can smell the weed, but I am not going to hassle you about that either. I know I have probable cause smelling that to search you and your car, but unless you are an ax murderer, I most likely will just be giving you a warning today… “
It was a long and practiced chant. A bunch of words strung together about the stop that let him keep talking to her. He needs cadence. He needs for her to hear his voice, and feel its rhythms. Her head was already bobbing up and down in a sort of agreement to all his comforting.
“Here is my drivers’ license,” she said, handing it out the window to him. She seemed to have forgotten the insurance card request, listening to his voice.
He had her. She was going to be naked in the back seat in a few minutes, doing whatever he wanted, and he wanted to see how far he could go. It had been forever since he had a new, fresh human woman. Locked away on a desk. No female cops would come near him for some reason. Probably the damn Vampires doing.
Till he knew he was a Siren, Arnold just viewed his targets as ‘women’, but now they are ‘human women’. His goal was the same. Screw them as hard as he could and maybe even get her pregnant.
He never understood that drive before he learned about being a Siren. It is how his kind reproduces. Well, one way. Sometimes a Siren / Human baby is a Siren. The other way is to get a Siren chick preggers, but they are much harder to seduce.
This woman would totally do. Fine as hell body. Healthy. She’d be perfect.
“I am sorry, Ma’am? Do you not have your insurance card with you today? If not, I can see if it is in the computer, based on the information here on your Drivers License. It will just take a little longer to look that up. Are you in a hurry today? Late for work?”
Again. Many more words than strictly required, but the more he can talk, the more he can put her at ease, and start working on the seduction spiel. The ‘in a hurry’ thing was his traditional pivot to ultimate seduction.
“No, officer. Not in a hurry at all. Just going to the store…” She said. He could tell from her dreamily distracted voice that she was listening to his every word and wanting more of them.
“Is that jacket you are wearing not too warm? It seems like on this beautiful day you would be hot. I hate for you to be uncomfortable while you are waiting for me to do all this in the car. Feel free to take off your seat belt and jacket and get comfortable. I see you have quite shaken. Please relax. As I said, you have nothing to fear here. I am just here to keep you safe. Also, my name is Arnold. See here, on my nameplate? Please do not call me officer. Arnold.”
“I’m Misty to my friends. I know it says ‘Melody’ there, but … Misty. Please.”
As she talked, she took off her seat belt, and then pulled her thin jacket off. No way it was making her hot. Not with that workout thing she was wearing underneath it. Next up was to get that and the sports bra under that off her.
“I assume you work out, Misty? You have lovely definition. You look like you are going to the gym? Your brightly colored clothing, and the leggings. Sports bra. Sprayed onto your form like a second skin. I am not sure how you can even take deep breaths in something so tight, but I am just a big guy that wears t-shirts to the gym. Nothing fancy like what you have on.”
He had her name. That let him work his way deeper into her mind. It is like a key. Familiarity, the cadences, the hypnotic rhythms, the long almost nonsense talking. There was a suggestion in there that the tight clothes would be better off her. A seed in her mind, and it took, because, at the mention of her sports bra, her hands went to her chest, and rubbed.
“It’s not so bad, Arnold. I wear clothes like this every day. I am used to how tight they are.” Misty said.
Score! Now to get them off her.
“You must work very hard to be able to wear such clothes. They hide nothing about your body, and yet they hide everything. You must be amazing naked. So proud and trim. Do the men at your gym ever ask you to take off your clothes? It seems like you would get that request every single day of your life. If I was not on duty, I would myself, but only because I would want to know the glory that must be your body. Your natural self.”
And Misty twisted her arms through the straps and the top of her gym clothes and her sports bra were around her waist in seconds. “Like this? You want to see my breasts? They are real.”
“I would like to see all of you…” Arnold started, and then the day went to shit. He knew the Honda Pilot that pulled in behind his cruiser.
Fucking Vampire.
Jessica Sagan stepped out of her car and sauntered slowly up to them. Saunter is the only word. The Vampire woman exuded confidence and sex appeal. Tall and curved. Exotic. Long black hair that swung like a cape. Arnold thought he had her once, till he pushed it and learned about the larger world around him when she bit him and injected her hypnotic fang Juice. He went insane after that for a while. Vampire fang Juice and Siren biochemistry do not mix. Not that he understood any of that back then.
Jessica came up, looked in the window at the confused topless woman.
“Hello, Miss. Why don’t you put that top back up, and head on? I’m with the Audit department, and Arnold here is about to be audited, and you know how long an audit takes. Better you just show those to a man or woman that deserves to see them.”
“Uh?” Misty said, her mind not working. The Siren cloud still over her.
“Arnold? Tell Misty to move on.” Jessica instructed.
Arnold knew better than to fuck with this woman. Not only is she married to the Siren Liaison asshole, not only can she fang him, but he had also hunted her and that had not turned out well. Broken arm. Sure, her Husband had done that, but SHE is twice the fighter and twice her husbands’ strength, so if Jessica wanted to, she could crush Arnold, and he knew it.
Jessica raised a warning finger at him. “Just tell her to go. Nothing else.”
Fucking Vampires.
“Misty? I am sorry. I need to deal with this. Please have a nice day and drive on. Forget this ever happened. OK. You were never pulled over. Just pull your top up, put on your jacket and seat belt, and do whatever it was you were planning on doing next. You never stopped.”
Another long speech, but standard closer. You don’t want them to remember getting fucked in case they get pregnant. You don’t want them to be able to find you.
“OK, Arnold. Nice to meet you.” Misty said, and then did as he instructed.
As the Lexus pulled away, Arnold turned and asked Jessica angrily “Did you SEE her. Did you see that woman? Did you see her body? I HAD her. I leave you alone, Vampire. Why are you fucking up my deal?”
Jessica Sagan just looked at Arnold cooly. Siren Song or Chants do not work on Vampires any more than Vampire fang hypnotics work on him. No. Worse, Her fang Juice had fucked him up, but he could do nothing to her. Fight her, he is dead. Try to take her under, he is dead.
Jessica Sagan terrified him. She is bigger, stronger, older, a better fighter, faster. Everything. It was not right that a woman with boobs and an ass like hers could be so far out of reach, and worse, he HAD her in his back seat once. She would have fucked him to get out of the ticket.
Before her damn husband showed up, married her, and they made sure he was never going to get another chance at not only HER but retribution. They fought, according to Siren law, and he lost big time.
“So. Arnold. We are even about some things, but remember when you ran over my husband with your car there?” She pointed at the cruiser. It was technically not the same car, but it was the same model. The last of the sedans. Most of the County stuff was SUV’s now.
Jessica went on. “You remember how you hung my husband upside down in a deer processing plant and beat him nearly to death?”
If he had not been a Vampire, he would have been dead, but that was all in the before time. Before Arnold knew about Vampires or Sirens.
“Yeah. So what?” Arnold told Jessica Sagan with more defiance than he actually felt. Arnold would never let this Vampire bitch know how much she scared him though.
Jessica Sagan put her Vampire powered finger into his sternum, and it fucking hurt. She tapped to make sure he kept feeling it. It was like being hit in the chest with his nightstick, except smaller and pointier. “So, Arnold: Siren law. Eye for an Eye. We settled up the whole Vampire’s trying to wipe out Sirens thousands of years ago. We settled Helen, Adrian, and I chomping you with fangs and undoing your Juice issues. We settled you smashing out Adrian’s fangs and trying to fuck up the Vampire secret with your big reveal in the warehouse.”
Arnold was not sure two battles in the Siren bar really settled all that, but Larry and the secret people said it was over. For now.
Jessica tapped. Bitch! “We have NEVER settled up on any of that other stuff. I still owe you. I owe you pain. I owe you suffering. I do not take kindly to what you did to the man that I love. SO. Here is the deal. You do not get to hunt in my neck of the woods. The Northwest is MY territory.”
Shit. Vampires had territories? Hunting grounds? Arnold was not at all surprised. They have to drink blood after all. Gross. He was in HER hunting ground. Oh, shit…
Tap, Tap, Tap. It was getting hard to breathe because she was intentionally tapping him every time he tried to inhale. Bitch! “Get the fuck out of here. If I catch you hunting here again, I will take my grievance to Larry, and you and I are going to face each other again. More bar breakage. More busted ceiling fans.”
Larry was still pissed about the damage to ‘The Firehouse’. Throwing Sirens up into the roof, and the resulting tearing down of fans with their bodies. Broken chairs. Tables. It wasn’t his fault Sirens settled shit this way.
Jessica Sagan leaned in and gave Arnold a very evil grin. Tap. “Assuming you can even find nine other people willing to stand with you after that last fight. This time, Arnold? Not your arm. Not your leg, either. I can’t KILL you, according to the rules, but I am a Doctor. MD. I am coming for your balls. What do you think I can do with those? Well. I don’t actually want them, so I am going to just show them to you. Bloody, and in my hand instead of attached to you. Then I will toss them in the trash where they belong, and you are going to be doing the Siren seduction chant with plastic balls and Testosterone therapy to keep your voice from being an Alto. I am a Doctor. You will not die. You just will never have real balls again. You understand me? Are we clear? Because I know I am on the right side of Siren law here, and I know no one in Vampire-land would tell me I cannot hurt you. Do you understand?”
“I understand.” Arnold said, knowing if he did not reply, it was going to hurt more.
Bitch.
“Repeat it back, asshole.” Jessica demanded.
“No hunting in the NorthWest. Your territory.” Arnold kept that simple. No point in long sentences when you can’t take someone under your spell with them.
“You can be taught. Get GONE. Now.”
Arnold got into his cruiser and rolled. He made a point of driving sedately. He would never give her the satisfaction of acting like he was as scared as he is.
Fucking Vampires!
Arnold called a number he knew by heart. His fall back plan. “Shelly. Arnold.”
“Hi, Arnold.” Came her thin voice. It went with her thin body. Shelly is a speed freak. Tattoo’ed damn near head to toe. She loves pain and Arnold liked to give it to her, but she loved pain, so it was not as much fun as giving it to a woman that does NOT like it.
Damn Jessica Sagan.
“Meet me at the hotel. Usual one. I have some issues to work out. You are going to love it.” He told his sexual punching bag. There is a big difference between her skinny little, emaciated body and the toned one he nearly just had.
“Ok. On my way.” Shelly said.
Arnold Romney was not satisfied.
Sure. He treated Shelly like shit. Damn near screwed her ninety-five-pound frame into next week. Arnold is a big, burly guy. Two Hundred and forty-two pounds of muscle, bulk, and anger. It sometimes amazed him that she survived their encounters.
She just is not enough.
Jessica Sagan would have been MORE than enough. The woman from the stop probably would have been. She was healthy.
Shit. Arnold wanted more.
He looked over at the bar. Leslie was talking to that new Siren woman. Vera. Both of them would do fine. Siren women are built to handle men like him. Not the way the Sagan woman is, but still. Close enough!
From everything Arnold knew, a lady Siren is a bedroom catch. The problem is that, unlike human women, female Sirens are hard to get in the sack. If you can seduce one with song, you can claim one. Arnold was told by his new Siren buddies Dougie and Fred (also recently healed up from the fight with the Vampires) Chanting never works. You have to raise your game. You have to be A-list singing talent to get one to the place she will give herself to you. Human women are easy. Siren women are way hard. Vampire women impossible: they are totally immune.
Jessica Sagan had been his best chance to ever have a Vampire screw. She thought he was human. She had been Jessica Diaz at the time, and she was hunting. Vampire chicks like a good lay with their blood. He thought he had her from the chant, but when he pushed it. Tried to get her to give him the kind of stuff Shelly does? He lost his chance. She was not under his Siren influence. She was just a Vampire looking for some human sex. A Vampire babe that did not yet know Sirens were alive and kicking. None of them did back then.
Damn it. She would have been so FINE, even without all the other stuff. He should not have pushed. He should have just taken the straight fuck. Not only would he have had her, he would have bragging rights here, at ‘The Firehouse’, for having sex with a Vampire.
That left human women and Siren women. Siren women are better. You do not have to seduce them to get one sometimes. Women are women. They have needs too. It is just if a Siren chick picks YOU, it’s her deal. Her terms. She can tell you to get lost any time she wants.
That Vera chick has reportedly tried out a few of the other guys here at ‘The Firehouse’. That is if you can believe lying ass males. Vera seemed to take her being a Siren seriously, in that every guy that claimed they had boffed her said she was amazing in the sack. Instead of them casting a spell over her, she was casting a sexual spell over them. There is nothing sadder than a big old Siren dude that is pining for a Siren chick. One that kicked his ass to the curb because he just did not ring her bell the right way. Why they may not be lying in fact: No Siren dude should long for any woman. Babes are supposed to long for them.
Vera never repeated a dude. She said they were all shit in bed, and was looking around trying to find better. There is a reason for that, and it is not one Arnold liked. Fucking Vampires. One specific one, anyway.
Vera, like Arnold, is a foundling. A Siren in the wild that did not know they were a Siren until they were discovered. Arnold was found by another Siren dude on the force. One that heard him chanting at his boss to get him to get off his back about being late for work again. The cop told Arnold ‘Hey: let’s go get a beer’ and they came here. To ‘The Firehouse’. There, Arnold, had his eyes opened to the larger world of Sirens and Vampires and what HE was.
The Vera chick was found by the god damn Vampires. Jessica Sagan’s fucking husband, Adrian. Siren Liaison and Siren chick magnet. All the Siren ladies loved him. That dude could claim any of them, and they would go. No seduction song required.
Arnold wished he had rolled over him a few more times with his police cruiser.
Vera was a former lover of the Liaisons. Supposedly when he was still human. She went around filling all the Siren women’s minds full of the idea that there was such a thing as a man that cared about how they felt in bed. One that gave them what they wanted, and usually FIRST.
He treated them well. Charmed the pants off them. Tipped them extravagantly. They showed him their tits. Made it clear that all HE had to do was ask and they were going home with him.
He never took them up on it. Of course, he didn’t, because he is married to that fine piece of Vampire ass, Jessica Sagan. No way they could compete with that. It is like being married to that comic book Amazon lady. Whatever the hell her name is.
That is what gave Arnold hope, and an opening. He tossed back his light beer in the longneck bottle and walked over to the bar where Leslie and Vera were talking. If Vera was trying out the male Siren talent one dude at a time might as well see if he could get an audition.
“Could I get another beer, please Leslie?” Arnold asked politely and showed her the bottle. Leslie is a good bartender, and she knows what he drinks. She looked annoyed at being interrupted, and just nodded and went over to the cooler and dug around. Arnold resisted looking at her ass bent over, because he was after Vera.
“I understand you are a recent foundling.” He started with. “I am too.”
Vera had no expression on her face as she looked him over. She started at his face, her gaze walking down his body. It did not linger anywhere. Not even on his jeans. Damn it. He should have gone and jerked off in the men’s room enough to have a stiffy first. Something to catch her eye.
Once she reached his boots, she walked her eyes back up him. “I know.” Vera finally said.
Arnold considered that. She has been here since Adrian Sagan brought her in. She saw him get his arm broken by her Ex. He decided on a line.
He held up the arm. “All healed up. Your Ex really did a job on it. Barely knew what I am, Siren-wise, and I am in a damn bar fight. I had zero idea what Vampires are like. Who did? Right?”
Leslie handed Arnold his opened beer. “I put it on your tab.” She said and waited. Arnold assumed waited for him to leave.
Vera finally had an expression. It was amused. “I sure did not, or I would have married the one that broke your arm when I had the chance.”
Arnold sipped at his ice cold beer. Say what you will about Sirens and their bars: The beer is COLD. “I heard he was human when you were with him. Not Vampire. Is that wrong?”
“No. That’s right. If I had jumped on him when I had my chance, he would not BE a Vampire. But at least I would be getting decently laid.”
Vera then said to Leslie. “Like I was saying, Adrian was never happy until I came first. It was like a requirement. Can you imagine that now? With this lot?”
Vera waved broadly, taking in the room, and starting at Arnold. “Useless,” Vera said. “One and done. Wouldn’t know how to make a woman happy if they tried.”
Leslie shook her head. “It’s kinda hard to imagine.” Leslie pointed in general at a table with some men at it. “Sometimes I just need a fuck, even a bad one. Bad sex better than no sex, ya know?”
“Leslie: I think we need to go out to a different, human bar. You and I could find us a human man or two. Have a good time.”
The two Siren women were utterly ignoring Arnold standing there. They were talking about finding some HUMANs. Arnold had not known he was a Siren for long, but he already had the prejudice. Hell, Shelly was a human, and she did not give him what he needed. Wanted.
“I am NOT a one and done.” Arnold said stiffly. “In fact, I have never met a woman that can keep up.”
Arnold considered. He was rough in bed today, for example. How long had that lasted? Long time… Right? Shelly collapsed and panted, anyway. She couldn’t take it.
Both Siren women were looking at him coldly. He knew that expression. Jessica Sagan wore it earlier today. Right before she told him about her planned surgery on his boys.
Vera said “Arnold. I am still friends with Adrian. I KNOW what you are like in the sack because he told me what you do with that poor woman. I would rather fuck eight or ten guys in this room in a substandard, Siren style, gang-bang than have your sick ass anywhere near my body. I would rather find some rando human guy at a bar over on Dirty Sixth than screw you. I have sex toys: I don’t need your shit. Get lost.”
Leslie pointed at Vera. “What she said.”
“Oh. Leslie! We could hit Rainey! Some good places there to get laid.” Vera enthused suddenly.
As Arnold sloped away, he heard Leslie say wistfully “I wish I could get me a Vampire man. Like your Ex.”
“Rarer than hen’s teeth, and the Vampire ladies swoop in and scoop those up.” Vera pointed out.
“Yeah. OK. Next night off. Rainey Street. You and me. Let’s get an assortment and try them all.” Leslie said.
Arnold flopped down at his table alone. Sucked on his beer.
Shitty damn day. Best thing so far is that the beer was really cold. Maybe he should stick it in his pants.
Arnold started thinking about how to talk his boss into him patrolling a different part of the County. One that was not already a Vampire hunting ground. Controlling men with the Chant is harder. Takes more words. There is not a sexual subtext normally, and if there WAS one, Arnold wanted no part of it. Arnold, like most Sirens his age, was all about the ladies.
Adrian Sagan is a shithead.
Arnold watched from his table as the object of his distain walked into ‘The Firehouse’ like he owned the damn place. That was probably because all the Siren chicks smiled at him. Vera kissed him. On the mouth. For an Ex, they seemed to be pretty friendly. She should be punching him in the mouth, not putting her tongue in it.
His two Siren mentors and buddies had joined him. They were healed up, same as Arnold. Same fight. Same results. The Vampires had destroyed them all in the fight. Adrian called them Red and Green, but they were Dougie and Fred. Arnold tried really hard to keep the nicknames out of his brain.
However, just looking at the Sagan kid, they came popping back in, unbidden. God, Arnold REALLY hated that smarmy little shit of a Vampire.
A quick glance around the room showed most of the other guys felt the same way. Of course, he, his wife, and their little blonde Vampire woman friend had taken out a huge number of them and in no time. They were not even winded after they cleaned the floor with the Siren’s. They may have hated this guy, but they feared him more.
Worse than the losing the fight is the fact that they all feared that Vampire son of a bitch just walking out of the bar with all their women. It was not just Vera and Leslie. All of them. Not just in the bar, but the female Sirens that worked over on the restaurant side of ‘The Firehouse’ too.
“Guess who.” Arnold said to his two companions.
They looked up, saw him.
“Fuck. Is it meeting night tonight?” Dougie asked.
They usually made a point of NOT being at the bar when Larry and Adrian were scheduled to meet.
“Naw. Not supposed to be. Wonder why that little fucker is here.” Fred commented.
“I wish we had fucked him up harder when we had the chance. Fucked his little human friend with the big tits. Never gonna get that chance again.” Dougie said.
They watched the Vampire go to the bar, take a beer from Leslie he did not order, kiss her the same way he had Vera, and then chat with her for a few moments. Leslie leaned over and opened her vest.
“Fuck me. Larry is not even here, and Leslie is giving him the show. I hate that guy.” Fred said.
They saw Adrian Sagan hand Leslie some money, and she grinned and opened her top both wider and in a way that only he could see.
“Fuck.” Arnold said.
Then it got worse. Adrian Sagan, Vampire gift to Siren-woman-kind, headed to their table. Leslie grinned over at Vera. Both of them played that dumb game.
“Red. Green. Arnold.” The Vampire said in greeting, a tip of his beer.
“What do YOU want, mother fucker?” Arnold asked.
“Well, Arnold, my lovely wife mentioned to me that you were hunting in our part of town.” Adrian Sagan explained in his smarmy tones Arnold so despised. What the entire fuck did Vera and Leslie see in this guy? For that matter, his fine-ass wife? “I came by to talk to Larry about that but seems it is his night off. I’ll come back later, but I saw you three asshats sitting here with your thumbs up your butts as usual, so I thought I would come by and say ‘Hi’. So… ‘Hi’. Arnold, I am sure a mouse-fucker like you got the message so I will not repeat it. You know what happens if we catch you there again. You will not like it.”
“Just fuck off, Sagan. I got it.” He pointed back to the bar. “Go get yourself some free titties or something. Does your wife know about the show you get here?”
“Of course she does.” Adrian Sagan laughed. “You have seen her, Arnold. She is not threatened. By anything.”
“Yeah. Just go the fuck away. Dougie, Fred and I were having a nice evening here.” Arnold said.
“I was too, but then I saw you. Red. Green. Arnold. Stay out of trouble.”
The Vampire waved his bottle and headed back to the bar. He hugged and kissed Vera, kissed Leslie again, and then left his empty on the bar and exited the Saloon. All female Siren eyes tracked him out, to Arnold’s deep annoyance.
“I really hate that guy.” He said to his buddies.
“Yeah.” Agreed Dougie.
“So… We can’t go fuck his little human friend? Those were some really nice boobs, man.” Fred asked.
“Dude. Think that through.” Arnold said. He may be the new Siren here, but even he knew a dumb idea when he heard it. “We go to his house, and pull her out of that house out back like before. Arnold barked a derisive laugh. “Let’s just assume for a second that we can taser Adrian, Jessica, and the blonde Vampire woman out of it. Also, that tall Vampire lady from the first fight if she is there. Fat chance. Us against four Vampires. Three of them female. Also, we have to take out her human man.”
Dougie and Fred had wide eyes at just the thought of it.
Arnold continued explaining. “Now: We get to her, and we sing to her or chant or whatever and she fucks us. Then what happens? The entire Vampire nation rains holy hell down on us. Larry wouldn’t do shit about it. He is terrified of just Adrian Sagan, more or less his harem. You even have any idea how many Vampire chicks there are out there? I don’t.”
Arnold shook ‘no’. A long slow, sad movement to communicate the utter futility of that entire idea. “But it does not matter, because there is no way in hell we get that far. You saw how those three took us apart. You felt it. You even land a hit? I tried and had my arm in a cast for weeks! We show up on Vampire land and try to taser even ONE of them, and they move into that Vampire speed thing, and they just kill us. Right there, on the spot. Probably not even quickly. They would take us apart slowly for trying to have a bit of fun sex with that human lady.”
Arnold looked at his buddies seriously. “Last time the Vampires did not know about Sirens. They do now. We would be on THEIR land, and they would get to fuck us up without Sirens doing a damn thing about it. Hell, they could bring our dead bodies in fragments back to here, say ‘Look what we found in our driveway’ and Larry would just fucking apologize for breaking the peace. No. The only way we get at her is if the human tart comes here, for a concert, and we sing our way into her pants, and she ain’t ever going to that stupid. She has to be in OUR house to make it legal.”
Arnold sighed. “I missed my chance with Jessica Diaz, in the back of my car when she thought I was just a human cop she could fuck her way out of a ticket with. We all missed our chance with whatever that blonde humans’ name is when we did not just take her plump ass at the warehouse while Adrian Sagan was laying on the floor with his fangs gone. Even worse, we are never going to get a chance with anyone that new Siren bitch, Vera, talks to either.”
He threw a nod at the bar where Vera and Leslie were still chatting. “That Vera chick has filled all the ladies around here heads with the glories of Adrian Sagan, and at the same time how bad WE are. You sing one of these Siren ladies down off their hard to get high horse some night, you better jump on that fast. I mean fuck like the wind. They come back out of it, or they see that Vampire asshole again, they will come right out from under your spell.”
Arnold did not actually know that. He knew Vera talked smack about him. Seemed likely Sagan told her about the warehouse and what they did to him there too.
This day sucked so hard.
Arnold read the note he found taped to his door.
Arnold
A woman came by my house. Big lady. Said she is a Doctor, and that she could help me. I don’t know why, but I believe her. She talked to me about getting cleaned up. Getting off the stuff. You know. Learning to like myself again.
She said I needed to stop seeing you too. That you are just like my drug habit. That I need to respect myself more.
I don’t understand it, but I know she is right. I have to do this. She is sending me to a place to recover. I don’t have to worry about insurance or anything. She said I needed to do this, and that it was paid for.
I don’t think I will ever see you again.
Shelly
Jessica Sagan. Has to be.
She spoke out of the darkness and confirmed it. “She is gone, Arnold, and I am making sure she never comes back. That poor woman needs help, and YOU have been abusing her for far too long. You want her for your own sickness. You are sick. You’re a Siren, but you are worse than that. You are just sick. I could not fix your fucked up mind with Juice, and we know what happened when I tried. I can make sure you don’t hurt women like her. It is bad enough you all prey on humans like you do. Seduce as you do. Today, that woman you stopped was at least healthy. You are a Cop, Arnold. That woman, Shelly, needed you to help her. Instead, you took advantage of her. I can’t fix you, but I can fix her.”
“Fuck you, Jessica.” Arnold said.
No response. She was gone into the night. Vampire.
What a crappy day. Now even his sure thing is gone.
As Arnold unlocked the door to his house. The ones the Vampires had broken into and bit him in, and Juiced him, he planned. He could do nothing about Jessica, or Vera, or even Adrian.
He could talk his boss into a new territory. A new place to hunt. First, though, he needed to drive around. Find a good spot to pull women over in.
