It had been a long, tiring night. All I cared about was getting a drink.
I sat down at the bar. Mac, the 'tender, finished wiping a glass and looked up at me. His watery blue eyes contained by a heavyset, sad face showed that he'd had a helluva night. Maybe the vamps had given him a hard time. Or the hunters. You never knew in those parts.
"Regular?" he asked, removing a frosted mug from a freezer unit at the base of sequence of spigots.
"You got it," I replied.
I looked over at the vampyre, who raised his glass of steamed blood and toasted me. "Salut," he said in a voice as dry, harsh and cold as a root cellar on a late November's morning. Mac set down a mug of chilled beer in front of me. I handed him a bill, and he went off to make change.
I saluted the vampyre in turn. "Cheers."
The vampyre smiled. "This is neutral territory, you know."
"Believe me, I know."
Mac slapped my change down on the wooden bar.
"You've undoubtedly heard about Maurius."
"He had it coming."
"Pity he didn't spend the evening here with me." The vampyre frowned and sipped his drink. His red tongue darted out for a second, as if he were a lizard in deep thought. "On the other hand, we got James."
"James was a prick."
"Aren't all vampyre hunters?"
I looked over at Mac, who was studying the clock.
"Last call?" I asked.
"Ten more minutes," Mac said, sounding bored. He wiped a glass with a white towel. "You two going to argue all night?"
The vampyre smiled. "I wouldn't say we were arguing," he said.
"I'd call it more of a discussion," I said.
"Banter is more the word," said the vampyre.
"Well, I don't need no more crap," Mac said, shaking his head. "I wish this nonsense would end once and for all."
"When the UN passes the resolution, everything will be fine," the vampyre said, draining his glass. He stood and made a polite bow toward Mac, then me. "Gentleman, have a good evening."
"See you around," I said, watching as he made his way from the bar, cape billowing behind him.
I looked at Mac. "What an asshole," I said.
Mac shrugged. "Aren't we all?"
I raised my eyebrows. "You've got a point."
I saluted Mac with my beer, then drained the glass.
