Chapter 18: Money changes everything
The black sedan crept through morning traffic like it was hunting something. Whatever was inside that vehicle radiated power that belonged in history books, not driving through downtown looking for parking.
"Marcus," he called softly. The ghoul appeared beside him with that unsettling silence that still caught Kaine off guard sometimes. "You picking up what I’m picking up?"
Marcus’s pale eyes tracked the sedan’s movement, his head tilting slightly like a dog hearing a whistle only he could detect. The ghoul’s lips parted slightly, revealing teeth that were too sharp, but no sound came out. Just a slow nod.
"Yeah, I figured." Kaine watched the vehicle turn onto Fifth Street, heading toward the entertainment district. "Let’s follow it. Keep your distance, stay invisible."
They tailed the sedan through six blocks of increasingly upscale neighborhoods, past boutique shops and trendy restaurants where people paid twenty bucks for sandwiches. The vehicle finally pulled into the valet area of the Paramount Theater, a restored art deco palace that hosted everything from Broadway tours to rock concerts.
A figure emerged from the sedan’s rear passenger seat, and Kaine’s Death Sight immediately painted threat warnings across his vision. Tall, elegant, moving with the kind of fluid grace that suggested centuries of practice with a designer suit on. Even from a hundred yards away, the supernatural aura was overwhelming.
"Jesus Christ," Kaine muttered. "That thing’s old enough to remember when this city was just a trading post."
The figure disappeared into the theater’s main entrance, surrounded by what looked like security personnel but moved with too much coordination to be entirely human.
Kaine pulled out his phone and googled the Paramount’s schedule. Tonight: Red Serenade, some kind of gothic rock concert that was apparently sold out weeks in advance. Ticket prices started at two hundred bucks.
A day ago, that would have been impossible. Now, with his recent windfall from liquidating a certain vampire’s bank balance, it was just Tuesday.
"Looks like we’re going to a concert tonight, Marcus."