He was right, for now. He frisked me one-handed. It wasn't very thorough, and I wondered where his partner was.
"Enough," the vampire said.
I felt the cop step back from me. "What's going on here?"
Her power slithered past me, like a great beast had brushed me in the dark. I heard the policeman gasp.
"Nothing is happening here," the vampire said. There was a flavoring of accent in her voice. German or Austrian, maybe.
I heard his voice say, "Nothing is happening here."
"Now go back to directing traffic," she said.
I turned, slowly, hands still on my head. The cop was standing there, face empty, eyes wide. His gun was pointed at the ground, as if he'd forgotten he was holding it.
"Go away," she said.
He stood there frozen. He was wearing his cross tie tack. He was wearing his blessed cross, just like he was supposed to, and it wasn't doing much good.
I backed away from both of them. If she stopped paying attention to the cop, I wanted to be armed. I lowered my arms slowly, watching the cop. If she took her control off suddenly, and I wasn't where I was supposed to be, he might shoot me. Probably not, but maybe. If he saw me with the gun in my hand a second time, almost certainly.
"I don't suppose you would remove his cross so I could order him about?"
My eyes flicked to the vampire. She was looking at me. The cop stirred, struggling like a dreamer in the grip of a nightmare. She turned her eyes back to him, and the struggles ceased.
"I don't think so," I said. I knelt, trying to keep my attention on both of them. I touched the Browning, and wrapped cold fingers around it. My hands were stiff from being exposed to the cold for so long. I wasn't sure how fast I could draw right at that moment. Maybe I should look into some gloves. Maybe ones with the fingertips cut out.
I shoved the Browning in my coat pocket, hand still gripping it. My hand would warm up, and I could shoot through my coat if I had to.
"Without the cross I could make him go away. Why can't I control you like that?"
"Just lucky, I guess."
Her eyes flicked to me. Again, he stirred. She had to stare at him while she talked to me. It was interesting to see how much concentration it took. She was powerful but it had its limits.
"You are the Executioner," she said.
"What of it?"
"I didn't believe the stories. Now I believe some of the stories."
"Bully for you. Now, what do you want?"
A slight smile curled her lipsticked mouth. "I want you to leave Jean-Claude alone."
I blinked, not sure I'd heard right. "What do you mean, leave him alone?"
"Don't date him. Don't flirt with him. Don't talk to him. Leave him alone."
"Glad to," I said.
She turned to me, startled. You don't get to surprise a two-hundred-year-old vamp often. Her face looked very human with its wide eyes and little oof surprise.
The cop gave a snort and looked around wildly. "What the hell?" He looked at both of us. We looked like two petite women out for the evening. He glanced down at his gun and seemed embarrassed. He didn't remember why it was out. He put the gun away, muttering apologies and backing away from us. The vampire let him go.
"You'd leave Jean-Claude alone, just like that?" she asked.
"You bet."