Love Game Chapter 7

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CHAPTER 7

Danica

ACCORDING TO HER RESEARCH, the Rockland Blood Center was the largest distributers of blood in the city. Other depositories would send them their blood to distribute to the major hospitals in the area. If she played her cards right, she’d be able to provide for her country for years.

“Since it’s your first day,” Kelly piped up when the donation center came into view in the distance. “You’ll have to go through orientation. Hopefully Barbie does your tour. Otherwise, it might be Big June and believe me, you don’t want her to show you anything. She’s super mean.”

Now that they’d gotten some fresh air, Kelly was back to her old bubbly self. Her smooth face betrayed no worries over the boogey man as they pulled up to the curb and hopped out of the car.

“I’ll park, then join you inside,” Asher said as she grabbed the latch to the door.

“Asher,” she groaned, “We’ve talked about this.”

“Gustav said…”

Not this again. She rolled her eyes. How often did she have to tell him that everyone’s overprotectiveness was unfounded? What happened with Julius was a one off. She had her thirst under control for the time being. Even so, Gustav sent her guard sniffing after her like a puppy around a toddler.

“I have this under control,” she said firmly. “I’d like to remain inconspicuous for this one.”

After a moment of internal debate, Asher settled in his seat. “Fine, I’ll wait in the car. Check in every half hour.”

“If I must,” she sighed, but agreed. He was only following orders. Unfortunately, the orders of her helicopter big brother outranked hers, which was something she would have to rectify immediately.

Walking up to the tinted glass doors of the donation center, she pulled out her phone to send Gustav a single message, knowing he might not respond right away.

Tell Asher to back off. If she was going to complete her mission, she was going to need everyone to calm down. She had everything under control.

“Hey, gumdrop!” Kelly squealed when she caught sight of the woman at the front desk.

“Heya Kelly! I haven’t seen you in a few days.”

“You know school and stuff.”

Dani held still, watching Kelly’s face flash with worry before she covered it again.

“I’m glad you’re back. What do you need?” she asked.

“I’m checking my friend in for her internship.”

“Oh yes! Danica Craul.”

“Dani. Only my mom calls me Danica, and that’s when she’s angry at me.”

“I completely understand. I’m Barbie, but Barbara when I really screw things up. Come this way. We’ll need you to fill out a few forms for your first official day. Housekeeping things. You’ve already completed your background check and drug test.”

Oh yeah? She looked at Kelly’s guilty face beside her.

“Have you worked at a blood center before?”

Only if they counted touring the factory that made nasty ass synth blood when she was back in the vampire realm.

“Uh…”

“Of course, she has,” Kelly offered brightly when she struggled. “Mostly licking stamps, bringing cookies, that sort of thing.”

“Yeah, back in high school…” she visibly scowled at herself. She should have rehearsed her fake background before stepping foot into the center. Thankfully, Barbie had her back facing her. It wouldn’t have taken a genius to see she was clearly lying.

“Understandable. Usually trained technicians have to be at least 18.”

Thanks to the all gods that worked. She mouthed her thanks to Kelly. “So, where do you keep the blood?”

“In the back. You’ll see when we do the tour. You know you’re the first to ask that. Most people want to know if they have to take blood. Which is a no, if you’re wondering. One of our trained technicians will do that. You will mostly be responsible for what you did before: providing refreshments, cleaning the chairs after use, organizing drives, that sort of thing.”

“So, I won’t be handling the blood?”

“Oh no, of course not.”

Well, that was a bummer.

“Is there a way I can?”

Kelly passed her a look telling her to drop it. Barbie paused, giving her a confused look.

“That sounded weird,” she recovered with a sheepish laugh. “I mean, I’ve always wanted to become a technician and I thought I might get some hands-on experience here.”

Barbie smiled warmly in understanding. “We knew we could trust Kelly with a recommendation. I love it when young people get involved. Truthfully, we have a lot of students volunteer here for an easy course credit. Who wouldn’t want an A for handing out cookies for a few hours a week? I’m glad you’re different. We’ll see what we can do.”

Now, that’s what she wanted to hear.

“Through here we have our giving center. This is where patients who’ve been checked-in come to donate.”

Barbie opened a set of wide hospital doors. Several rows of donors were laying down in double wide comfortable chairs that leaned back to almost laying down. This donation center really knew how to pack them in. This was the cash cow she was looking for.

“Through here,” Barbie motioned to set of double doors to the left. “We have the kitchen where we store the refreshments for the donors.”

“In here, we have the kitchen where we store the refreshments for the donors.” Barbie brought them to a room with a wall lined with oak cabinets, two stainless steel industrial sized refrigerators.

Inside, a boy with dark curly hair the color of chestnuts and a glowing smile hummed as he filled two trays with cookies, juice boxes, and a few extra napkins.

“Oh hey!” His brown eyes met hers before glancing over at Kelly. They shared a nod. He was their contact.

“Ray, this is Dani, our new intern.”

“Welcome!” he beamed, holding his hand out for her to shake. She took it and held it with a firm grasp.

“I’m taking her on the grand tour. Ray will assist you in some of your training. He is head of the snack department.”

“Deputy Snack Commissioner Extraordinaire,” he spouted with a laugh. “We all have our titles here. Right Kelly?”

“Yup, I’m Chief of Interior Maintenance, a fancy way of saying I wipe the beds down.”

“Then I’ll be the Overlord of Organization,” Dani joked back, although she wasn’t sure what her role was going to be.

“Whoa, big guns already. I like your style,” Ray laughed, then held up a small tray. “I’ve got to get these to Mrs. Haddison. I think she comes just for the sugar grams. Apparently, her daughter won’t let her have any at the house. So, she donates blood for them.”

“Wise woman,” Barbie jumped in. “Tell her I said hello. I missed her coming in.”

“Will do,” he said with a playful wink. “Oh, Barbie, we’re running low on a few things. I made a list on the counter. Nice meeting you Dani.”

“Likewise.”

“Ray’s such a good kid. Rough around the edges, but he’s a sweet kid. I think you two will get along.”

Dani smiled, staring after the boy with the hospital tray hoisted over his shoulder like a waiter. Without a doubt, he’d be her new best friend.

Barbie read the list Ray provided her, then opened several of the cabinets, checking the stock quantities of some of their most popular items.

“We’re almost out of several things. I’ll have to pick up more on my lunch break to get ready for the big drive this afternoon.”

“It’s two o’clock,” Kelly said, looking at the clock on the wall.

“Really?” Barbie checked the watch on her wrist. Surprise dotted her brows. “Would you look at the time?”

“Did you need to go?” Kelly asked. “I can finish Dani’s tour if you have to run.”

“Oh, could you? I have to drop off a permission slip for my son’s soccer tournament, then run to the store for refreshments. You would be a life saver.”

“Of course, go ahead.”

“Dani, I’ll leave the paperwork I need you to fill out on the front desk. If you could get those done when you’re finished with your tour. You’re in excellent hands with Kelly.”

“Thanks Barbs,” Kelly beamed.

When she was out of eye shot, Kelly turned back to her. “Come with me.”

Across the room, Ray, who’d been doling out sugar grams and apple juice to Mrs. Haddison, gave them a curt nod before they disappeared into the back.

Just outside the door, Kelly handed her a gown, gloves, shoe nets, and a pair of safety glasses to put on. Once dressed, they zipped into a room filled with medical equipment, stainless steel tables, and several carousels of blood bags feeding into a machine, jolting them around in small bursts.

“What’s that?” She pointed at the contraption.

“Processing.” Kelly zoomed past, not sparing a glanced toward the monstrous machine. She brought them through another set of doors to a room filled with what looked like tall baking racks and into a tiny storage closet in the far back of the room.

Between the cleaning supplies and the large industrial sink with a dirty mop hanging out of it, there was hardly any room to think, let alone breathe.

“What are we doing in here?”

Kelly opened her mouth to respond but a soft knock rasped on the door, cutting her off. Ray poked his head in. The bright friendly smile he’d flashed when Barbie was around was nowhere to be found as his gaze traveled from her forehead to her toes. In its place, a critical borderline mistrusting expression overtook it.

“So, you’re the vamp who needs blood?” he asked.

“You told him about me?” She shot Kelly a look of betrayal.

“Relax gumdrop. Ray is good people.”

Good people for her, maybe. She didn’t know him as far as she could throw him, which meant she most definitely didn’t want him to know about her vampire status if she could help it. Ray shifted enough to cross his thin arms in front of hist chest.

“It wasn’t that hard to figure out with the quantities of blood you’ll need.”

Fair enough.

“Kelly said you’ll need as much as we can spare.”

“I do and she gave me a fair enough price per shipment. Does that still stand?”

“Yes, where’s your slip?”

“My what?”

He looked from the big question mark dangling over her forehead to Kelly, who cleared her throat and stepped forward slightly with a guilty expression.

“Here’s the thing…” she began.

“Kelly, she got permission, right? I can’t do this without permission from up top.”

“That’s why I asked for this favor. You agreed.”

“I assumed you had permission.” Ray backed up into the door, the knuckles protruding from his bony fingers gnarled in the waves of his dark hair.

“Technically, this isn’t something to get permission for.”

“A vampire looking to get this amount of blood is something we need to ask the Prominents about,” he said in a single breath as his fingers pinched the bridge of his wide nose.

“Why? There’s no rule against trading contaminated blood. Only blood from a living host,” Kelly finished triumphantly. She’d clearly found a loophole in whatever permission code she was talking about. One she’d have to ask her about as soon as they were out of this musty closet.

A deep, hesitant hum emanated from Ray as he looked between them again. His lips tucked into a frown.

“This is crazy,” he turned toward the door, agonizing over his current dilemma.

“It’s not a matter for the Prominents,” Kelly rushed out, her voice gaining confidence.

“What about him?”

At that, Kelly’s entire body shuttered against the steel shelves behind her. At the sheer insinuation of Tattoos, her confidence turned to shards. Her bravery turned to slop at her feet. And from the look on Ray’s face, they were losing this argument and she was failing her mission. She couldn’t. Not when she was so close.

Dani cleared her throat and stepped toward Ray. “I’m not here to make any trouble. I only want what I need with as much discretion as possible. Kelly assured me you were the right person, so I asked her to set up an arrangement can be mutually beneficial.” she said, reminding him of how lucrative of a deal this was.

His original price was steep but fair considering the quantities she’d need him to produce. She could always up the purse to double if that would help persuade him. One thing she learned from her bastard of a father, if she thew enough money at something, it would sway anyone’s doubt.

The pearly whites in his mouth clicked and his jaw cracked. The debate he’d been having with himself waged in his eyes.

“If we get caught—”

“How can we? Unless you plan to tell someone…”

“Do I look stupid? I’m not telling anyone.” His forehead crinkled.

“Then I believe we have sorted our little problem. This isn’t a matter for anyone but you and I. And the only people in the room who know of it have no plans on telling anyone. Right?” She looked at Kelly, who shook her head no.

Ray’s brown eyes churned as he thought it over. It wasn’t long before he settled with a resigned sigh.

“If I do this, the rate’s tripled.”

“I’m sorry. Did you say tripled?” She clenched her jaw to keep her eyes from bulging out of her sockets, making sure not to flinch when his eyes were deadlocked onto her face, studying her. Triple was outrageous.

“I did.”

“In the span of five seconds?”

“Five seconds ago, I didn’t realize you didn’t have permission. My silence has a price.”

For someone so afraid a second ago, he seemed big in the pants now. Okay, if he wanted to play it that way. Him trying to swindle her out of extra cash would not bode well for him in the long run. But for now, she had to think of the mission.

“Fine.”

“Good.” Ray’s expression darkened as he looked over his shoulder to the closed door behind him. He moved closer into the room, crowding the already cramped space. “Here’s how this is going to work. You’ll be on a trial basis. I’ll give you a small quantity to start and see what you do with it. The second I find out your motives are nefarious, or you’re playing me, or if any other vampire comes knocking at my door, this deal is done. No one is to know about this.”

“Got it. How much blood are we talking during my trial?” She cut to the chase. Ray didn’t seem to want pleasantries, so she didn’t offer any.

“Half of what’s in alternate stores.”

“What’s alternate stores?”

“It’s where we hold the blood we can’t use.”

“How much is currently in stores?”

“That depends.”

“On?”

“On your preferences. I’m told you can drink anything, right?”

There wasn’t much she listened to when it came to royal life, but one thing that ensured her family’s survival: know thy enemy and keep thy enemy from knowing you. Vampires had very few weaknesses, but a drop of shifter blood was poisonous. She wouldn’t let anyone know about her weaknesses. “I only want human blood. No other blood and nothing sullied.”

“That should be fine. There’re several shipments worth in stores, which I can show you after I get my payment.”

Did he think she was some kind of fool? With an upfront payment, there was no guarantee he’d keep his end of the bargain.

“I’ll give you half of your payment if I find your alternate stores to be acceptable of purchase. And when I come for pick up, you’ll get the rest,” she negotiated.

His lips tightened into a ball as he crossed his thin arms over each other and studied her. The bright face of the kid doling out cookies was far gone. He looked at Kelly for a moment. Kelly, the pure soul that she was, gave him a reassuring nod, cosigning her integrity. Ray’s dark brown eyes flickered back to her. “Yeah, okay.”

Ray didn’t put his hand out to shake hers to seal the deal. Instead, only let his fists drop to his sides, then exited the tiny storage room.

After a few seconds, he popped his head back in and tapped an impatient foot. “Hello? Are you coming?”

Kelly scurried through the door behind Ray and she followed.

Out in the main area, a lab technician who’d been checking the blood carrousel gave them a confused look. Ray shot her a glowing smile. “Lindy! This is Dani, our new intern. We’re giving her the grand tour.”

Lindy smiled behind her mask, face shield, and goggles. “Welcome!”

“Here, we have the shake and bake.” Ray pointed to the machine Lindy was working at, emphasizing his charade.

“What does it do?” she played along.

He shot her a warning glare that said I work alone, but answered kindly, “It separates the platelets from the blood.”

His lithe body slid around Lindy’s work station as she moved across the room to the refrigerator where several rows of blood were stored. So, that was where they kept the fresh stuff.

“And in here,” Ray opened a plain single door leading to a dark storage room, “is where we keep the hazardous waste.”

Glancing behind them to Lindy, who worked at a stainless-steel bench across the room, he closed the door behind them and turned on the lights.

“This is where we keep the blood we don’t need.”

Inside, several rows of floor-to-ceiling racks filled nearly every inch of the room. A set of color-coded buckets adorned them, all stuffed with blood bags.

“All of this is disposable?”

This was a pleasant surprise. Once she could get out of her gloves and to her phone, she was going to have to tell Gustav she needed a route stat. Cha-ching! She should have entered the bet with her siblings. They would all be eating shit to the sweet sound of her victory.

“Most of them,” he said. “Humans don’t take to supernatural blood well, no matter how diluted, so we test for it and if it’s positive for any supernatural genetic markers, it gets thrown out.”

“All of this is supernatural blood?”

“Not all of it, just the last two rows.”

Her eyes widened. That had to be liters of blood going to waste.

“Supernaturals have been in Clide for generations mixing and breeding with humans to ensure their line survives. Most humans are decedents and don’t even know it. After the third generation, any supernatural ability goes dormant in the genes and they don’t present, but their blood is still lethal to other humans. Which is why everyone who donates blood must be tested. For example, Mrs. Haddison outside, she’s part fox shifter.”

Ray patted a blood bag in a blue container labeled HADDISON, J.

“You know this and let her give blood?”

“It’s necessary. Too many questions come up if we turn healthy people away,” he shrugged.

“How do you keep track of who’s who?” Dani asked, eyeing the sheer number of bags stacked on the shelves. “Our deal is for human blood only.”

Ray groaned impatiently, as though she’d asked the stupidest question on the planet. “Calm your pants. Anything in the red buckets is discarded human blood packages.”

“Why are those discarded?”

“For any variety of reasons. Most times, it’s when someone is part mage and part human. The blood isn’t compatible with anyone.”

“How do you keep from cross contamination?”

“Lindy out there,” he pointed to the door. “She’s part mage just like most of us who work here. Our job is to keep magekind from being discovered. We can’t discard supernatural blood the same way as human blood. The incinerators turn it to tar instead of ash. Humans get suspicious of stuff like that. So, it’s our job to dispose of it by other means, and each supernatural has their own way of disposal, so we can’t just shove it all together. The last thing we need is for normies to find out about our kind.”

That made sense.

“So, anything in these two rows is for the taking?”

“Yep. Incineration pick up is twice a week. Once on Thursday and once on Tuesday. If you need it, you better come get it before then. Otherwise, bye-bye it goes.”

“So, the next pick up is two days from now and my trial starts then.”

“You’re a smart cookie. If that’s too soon, we can start next week. It’s up to you.”

“No, I’ll take what you have.” She grabbed one bag absently. “Wow, these are cold.”

“We’ve cooled this room with magic to keep the blood fresh for your tour. We’ll keep it that way. This time. If you want us to refrigerate it going forward, it’ll cost you extra.”

Her nose scrunched into her eyebrow bone, unable to mask her disgust.

Price gouger. First his silence cost extra, now the refrigeration.

“Why is that?”

“Normies don’t care to keep a room cold for blood they’re going to discard anyway. And cooling a room of this size with magic draws too much attention from the wrong people.”

“What do you mean, wrong people?”

“That’s mage business.” Ray’s face darkened again. From the single glance he shared with Kelly’s ghost white complexion, she knew it had something to do with Tattoos. “And we can only do it on days of pick up. After that, you’ll have four hours to find storage before it goes bad.”

That much she knew already. Which was why they carried their black boxes around with them. Their personal transporters kept blood at the optimum temperature for consumption. Her box wouldn’t fit even a fraction of the bags in front of her. She’d need a much larger space.

“This sounds painless.”

Ray grinned for the first time since he’d left the donor area. The personable boy was back. His hand thrust toward her. “If it all goes to plan. We have a deal.”

She took his hand with a firm grasp of her own.

“Nice doing business with you. Now, I need to get back before I’m missed.”

Dani smiled again, then turned back to Kelly as soon as he was gone.

“Thank you!” She threw herself into Kelly’s thin arms and giggled. The phone in her pocket buzzed. Gustav sent several messages in quick succession.

Why? What happened?

Dani… Why aren’t you answering?

Please tell me everything’s alright.

I knew a blood bank internship was a bad idea.

Dani…

“Are you okay?” Kelly asked.

“It’s my brother. I should take this.”

“There’s an exit right in the back through here if you want to take a private call,” Kelly pointed to the exit sign at the far end of the room.

“Thanks. I’ll be back in a sec.”

The door brought her to the side of the building that was cozied up to another. She pulled her safety glasses off her eyes and up into her hair while she dialed her brother.

“Dani. Is everything okay? You didn’t respond.” Gustav’s voice perked up alarm.

“Calm, dear brother. Everything’s perfect. So perfect, in fact, our first order is coming in 2 days.”

“Wow, you weren’t kidding around. The kingdom will sing your praises.”

She smiled, immediately easing her previous tension.

“What? No feasts in my honor?”

“Only if you get mated along the way.”

“Ick, don’t say that too loud. Mother will appear here with her long line of suitors trailing behind her, ready to marry me off. Will you be ready?”

“I have my courier on standby.”

“You’re the freaking bes—” She paused for a second when her vampire heard a sound in the alley. She looked up, but the road was clear.

“You okay? What happened?”

“Nothing. I was going to compliment you but didn’t want you to get a big head,” she said, even though she felt the hairs on her neck stand. She’d better get back inside. “Anyway, I have to get back to the internship. I just wanted to gloat.”

“Classy. Talk to you soon.”

Something whispered on the wind as she hung up the phone. It wasn’t a sound, but something about the way the surrounding air tinged made her skin crawl. Something was definitely not right. But she caught the cause too late.

As if appearing from nothing, a tall, over-bearing presence materialized just behind her. Then, the sweetest smelling scent she’d ever known made her stiffen and claw at her vampire for control. Her memory didn’t do it justice. She’d been waiting for this payday all week. Her vampire pushed to the surface. Her eyes pooled to black.

One thing had become absolutely clear. Kelly’s, and now her, worst nightmares were about to come true.

Sebastian Wade was right behind her.

Shit and double shit.

Author’s Note: Whew! What did you think?