***
Thalos took the subway to Vampire Poison’s midtown headquarters expecting to get nabbed on the way. He got into the building’s front reception area without incident. A young man in street clothes finished transferring a phone call and looked up at him with a smile.
Thalos had no idea what to say. “I…don’t have an appointment.”
“Okaaaay.”
“Could you tell Dusty Hollbrook that Thalos is here?”
The man jotted this on a square notepad. He pressed a button on his phone and spoke without picking up the receiver. “Dusty?”
“Yes?”
Thalos heard his youthful voice through the speaker phone.
“A Mr. Thalos is here to see you. He says he doesn’t have an—“
“What? What’s he look like?”
The receptionist eyed him. “Um, he’s tall, long black hair, early-thirties maybe? Long black trench coat. Um…”
Thalos could hear someone running up a hallway. Dusty walked in front of the reception desk to gape at him with severe eyes.
Thalos had to restrain a euphoric sigh. What a gorgeous man his beautiful boy had grown into. He now beheld wide eyes of emerald green, and his cherubic pile of blond hair had survived into adulthood. Best of all, he had a small lithe muscular body that would fit perfectly against Thalos’ own.
Dusty closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This gave Thalos a shiver. His appearance had Dusty reeling. Their rapport felt so electric. He wanted to speak to Dusty telepathically to reassure him, but knew better.
His angel’s face turned angry. “It’s about time you showed up.”
Thalos blinked.
“Smiley, call Dalton up here right now.”
The receptionist snatched up the telephone receiver. “Okay.”
“Don’t think just waltzing in here is going to make everything okay.” He could hear a tremble in Dusty’s voice.
A stocky hard-faced man in his fifties burst into the lobby. He had peeling sunburn on his bald scalp. He strode to Thalos and grabbed his arm.
“Don’t talk. Just move.”
Thalos remained passive in the rough man’s hold. Dusty followed them.
“You have those shackles in your office?” Dalton said to Dusty.
“Yeah.”
The younger man raced ahead to open his door at the end of the corridor. Dalton threw Thalos into one of the leather arm chairs in front of Dusty’s desk. He pulled out the cross shackles from a drawer.
“Hands!”
Thalos grimaced. He clenched his teeth and offered his wrists. Dalton slapped on the shackles.
“He can’t transform now.”
Thalos lowered his head. His euphoria transformed into fear and regret. He realized the silence in the room after a few moments. Dusty sat behind his desk with his hand over his eyes. He shook with quiet sobs.
After a loud snuffle he fixed his red-rimmed eyes on Thalos. “How could you put that curse on me—and then just abandon me for 15 years!”
“I…I couldn’t claim you. You’re Deborah’s son. It was a mistake.”
Dusty’s anger turned incredulous. “Yeah! You fucked up! You should have owned up to it you stupid son of a bitch!”
He shook his head. “What could I do?”
“You could have kept me from suffering all these years! ‘Nothing will hurt you now.’ Do you remember that? Well I’ve been hurt—by you! You made me obsessed with you, and then you never had anything to do with me again. You should have protected me. You could have saved my mother’s life!”
Dalton fumed through his nostrils. “Alright, Dusty…”
“That’s fine. I’m done.” He ripped a tissue from the dispenser in front of him. “I’ve said what I had to.”
Thalos felt lower than a worm. He couldn’t keep his voice from sounding sheepish. “I’m here now, Dusty.”
“You’re too late.”
He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
Dalton perched his behind on the edge of Dusty’s desk and crossed his arms. “He’s not too late. He’s going to help us deal with Johann.”
“Yeah,” Dusty said with indignation. “For once you actually have to clean up a mess you made.”
Thalos cringed. Then he lowered his head and said, “I’ll do whatever I can to help you destroy Johann. That’s why I surrendered.”
“Where is he?” Dusty said.
“I don’t know.”
Dusty closed his beautiful eyes. Then his momentary grief turned back into anger. “Well, you sired him, didn’t you?”
“I haven’t kept in touch with him, but I may have a vampire contact who knows where he is.”
“Good,” Dalton said. “Call them up.”
Thalos gave the brusque man a weary smile. “I’ve yet to meet a vampire who’ll share something so easily traced as a phone number. They’re scared of you, and they’re scared of Johann. I may have some email addresses, but none of them will communicate about him on record.”
“So, just how are you going to get information?” Dusty said.
“There’s a…gala…tomorrow in Thailand.”
“Your Bangkok Blood Hotel New Year’s celebration,” Dalton said.
“Yes.”
Dusty looked at Dalton. “Are we going to be able to mobilize that fast?”
“Looks like we have to.”
“You need to guarantee amnesty to any vampire that helps us.”
“You need to realize that you’re our prisoner and we don’t need to guarantee you anything,” Dalton said.
“No. He’s not our prisoner, he’s going to be my slave. Got that, Thalos?”
Thalos nodded his head one time. He wondered why it felt so easy.
“You’ll do whatever I tell you to, and if any of your contacts are killing people we’re taking them down. Period.”
“None of the vampires I associate with kill people.”
“And no one can know about what happened between you and me years ago.”
Dalton stood stiffer. “Right. That.”
“I won’t tell anyone, Dusty.”
Dalton jutted a finger at him. “If you let that slip out I will dunk you into a tank full of holy water.”
Thalos eyed him. He would have laughed, but he knew they actually did own such a tank.
“And you stay out of his head,” he continued. “Mess with him and I’ll tattoo a crucifix to your face.”
“Your threats are extremely creative.”
“Pssh,” Dusty said.
They put him in an airtight cell with a mattress. By then several other operatives got involved. Dusty stood at his cell door with the other men grouped behind him. He stared at Thalos for long moments.
“This…this is temporary. I won’t mistreat you unless you make me.”
These first kind words Dusty uttered made Thalos melt inside. He wanted to hold him and soothe his hair. It didn’t matter how acrimonious Dusty behaved. To Thalos he could do no wrong.
Dalton stepped up and pulled Dusty back by his shoulder. He sneered at Thalos. “You remember what I told you.” He locked him in.
Thalos decided to sleep to make the time pass faster. If he stayed awake he’d worry about all the business obligations he’d delegated to other people. He might also remember the last time Vampire Poison imprisoned him. It took sixty-eight years for him to escape. They tried to kill him in so many diabolical ways. Thalos shuddered and tried not to think about it.
He slept for a few hours, but then woke up with a jolt. Three operatives came to bring him to the war room. Thalos sat beside Dusty who looked half-awake. Dalton suggested that this mission just be reconnaissance. Thalos agreed. A small team would go with Thalos to the New Year’s party to gather information. Dusty became alert enough to insist that he go. The team ended up being four of them: Thalos, Dusty, a male operative and a female. The latter wou
ld pretend to be a couple at the gala. Thalos surmised he and Dusty would also pretend to be a couple (but didn’t tell him). After a half hour more of preparation, including sending someone to Thalos’ loft to get his passport and clothes, they went to a rooftop helicopter. This flew them to a private airstrip. They boarded a jet and left for Thailand.