Cameron Haley - Mob rules

"Yeah. But I'm a gangster, so it's hard for me to win moral arguments."

"Still, Domino, don't you think it says something about him that he's friends with a vampire?"

I shrugged. "I guess vampires can be mysterious and intriguing, or whatever. Plus, his father is my boss. He had to be raised with a certain amount of ethical flexibility. Anyway, like I said, Fred is working with the spirit. I figure the spirit probably manipulated Adan into hanging out with him."

"Domino, seriously, what do you know about this guy? You're pretty hot for him. What is it about him you like?"

I shrugged.

"Well, what does he do?"

I frowned. "I don't know…he's taking some time off."

"So he's a bum?"

"No! He's got plenty of money. He's just between jobs."

"What did he do before?"

"He was in school."

"Has he ever had a job?"

I shrugged. "He's not a gangster."

"That's what you like about him? He's not a gangster?"

"Yeah, for one thing."

"Your standards are really low. Shouldn't be hard to find a guy who isn't a gangster."

"Yeah, but finding one who doesn't freak out every time I drop a spell is a little tougher."

"Oh, I get it."

I waited. Honey just hovered there and looked at me.

"What? You get what?"

"You're not falling for Adan. I mean, he's a bum-what's to fall for?"

"He's not a bum and I never said I was falling for him."

"You didn't have to. Anyway, you're not falling for Adan, you're falling for the idea of Adan."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You see it all the time in women who make bad choices about men. It's not the actual guy they fall for-he's just a blank canvas they can project their own needs onto."

"Another Newsweek article?"

"Cosmo."

"Well, you're wrong, Honey."

"Yeah, see, you don't want a gangster and you don't think you can have a normal man, and then here comes this…boy…and he's neither one. He's perfect, even if he is a bum and a serial killer."

"He just needs to find himself."

"You're hopeless."

"Look, I'm not falling for him, Honey. But I do want to help him. And even if I didn't, it's my fucking job."

"Well, if you have to go on a date with your sweet, vampire-loving, serial-killer boyfriend tonight, we can start your training tomorrow."

"How long will it take? For me to learn the kung-fu magic, I mean?"

"I don't know for sure. It shouldn't take very long. It's just manipulating magic. You already know how to do it-you just don't know you know."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like what you do when you cast a spell. Only you're not tapping the juice. You are the juice. You control the juice, you control your construct."

"Sounds easy enough."

"Yeah."

"Okay, tomorrow then. After I track the vampire."

"What if you can't find something to track him with?"

"I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead yet. I guess if I can't find Fred here, I'll have to deal with him in the Between."

"He'll probably kill you. He was just playing before."

"Yeah, well, then I better find something to track him. Don't jinx it. What are you going to do while I'm out?"

"Probably work on my nest."

"Okay. I'm going to grab a shower."

"Sounds good. I need one, too." Honey leaped into the air and flew to the bathroom.

"Honey?" I called.

"Yeah?" I heard the shower running.

"You know I'm not going to take a shower with you, right?"

She flew back into the living room. "Why not?"

"I'm just not. It's not appropriate."

"You don't want me to see you naked?"

"No, it's not that, it's just…roommates don't shower together."

"Why not? Come on, I'll do your back."

"Honey, you're a lot smaller than me. Don't you think that would take a really long time?"

"Remember how fast I knocked you down before?"

"Yeah."

"I work fast."

"That's not just in the Between? I thought that was your kung-fu magic."

"It is, but I can do it here, too. And use glamour. But I don't cast spells like you do, because I'm a piskie."

"Oh."

"So come on, it'll feel really good."

That's what I was afraid of. The whole Honey situation was pretty hard to figure out. I had no objections to a little harmless fun between girls. There'd been a few times with girls from the Men's Room, and I'd never regretted it. So how was I supposed to feel about a pretty, young naked woman who wanted to take a shower with me? What if she was eight inches tall? It was kinky, but more like a foot fetish. Not like bestiality or necrophilia kinky. And besides, it was just a shower.

Then I thought about Adan and what he would think of me showering with Honey. Well, he was a guy, so he'd probably be all for it as long as he could watch. But I knew I wouldn't like the idea of him taking a shower with some girl, no matter how short she was.

"Look, Honey, I just can't take a shower with you." Then I had a moment of real inspiration. "You're a very beautiful woman, you're very sexy, and I'm just not comfortable with that level of intimacy. We're roommates and I value our friendship."

"You think I'm sexy?" Honey beamed.

"Of course. You're hot. And I can't say the idea of some kung-fu scrubbing isn't tempting. But that's why I can't take a shower with you."

Honey sighed. "Okay, I'm first then." She flew off again. "You can come in if you change your mind," she called from the bathroom.

I dropped onto the couch and let out a deep breath. I felt like I'd either dodged a bullet or missed out on something so weird even the men's magazines wouldn't know what to do with it.

My preference for searching Adan's apartment was to do it when he wasn't there. I called him a little after ten and suggested we meet somewhere. My plan was to pick a place far enough away that I could break in after he left, search the loft and then make up for lost time with the traffic spell.

It was a good plan, but Adan invited me over instead. It was about ten-thirty when I got to his loft. He'd already had dinner, so we settled on coffee and shared a slice of take-out Washington. We finished the pizza and he let me smoke after I agreed to use my housecleaning spell to kill the odor.

"Tell me about Fred," I said, tilting my head away from him and blowing a line of smoke into open air.

"You picking a fight, Domino? You just got here."

"I'm not, but I work for your father and it's my job to look after his interests."

"And protecting little old me is part of that job?"

"I'm not trying to protect you, Adan. I know you can take care of yourself." It was the exact opposite of how I really felt, but I couldn't very well tell him that.

Adan nodded. "He's German, but I think he's older than the country. He says it wasn't really unified when he was alive. He says he was a noble or a prince or something."

"They always are. You never seem to run across a vampire who came up a peasant."

Adan laughed. "Well, I told you I met him at the club."

"Yeah. I figure he hunts there."

"I think so. Actually, he owns the place. Anyway, we became friends before I knew what he was, and I've never been with him when he…did that. But I've seen him leave with women."

"And they don't come back."

"No, sometimes they don't."

I sank back on the sofa, smoked and thought about my next move. This was tricky. It was possible Adan could help me find the vampire, saving me the trouble of having to search his place. But if I asked the kind of questions I'd have to ask, he'd know what I was planning. Would he help me kill Fred? Or would he throw me out of his apartment?

My gut was telling me that his friendship with Fred didn't run too deep. He'd found out about him after they'd become friends. His father had him juiced-up with protective magic and spell talismans, but he was probably still a little intimidated by the vampire. Maybe he was worried Fred would come after him if he told him to get lost. Maybe I was right, and the spirit had even manipulated him into the friendship.