4.24 - Takeoff

Dee’s first words to Gene when they met back up in Helsinki were:

“Why do you smell like a fucking taco truck?”

She wrinkled her nose with a scowl so deep it looked like her features were moments away from collapsing inward.

“You might have overdone it,” Ethan conceded. He was standing by Gene’s side dressed in what (for Ethan) passed for casual clothes: a polo, a cashmere sweater and a pair of chinos. He’d been quiet the whole drive back into Helsinki, but now he felt it was necessary to speak up. “Even I can smell it at this point.”

“Well, I had to try them!” Gene protested. “How was I supposed to know without putting them on?”

“You could have probably narrowed it down to only trying one or two.”

Which, of course, was true, but Gene needed something to distract himself while Ethan wore silver and tried to see the future. He closed his eyes and Gene didn’t know what to expect. If it worked would there be any physical signs? He knew that Ethan sometimes saw things, but wasn’t sure if that had ever happened in front of him. He imagined something like a seizure, mouth foaming, eyes rolled back in his head until only the whites were visible.

Thankfully, nothing like that happened, but by the time Gene realized it wasn’t going to he had tried seven out of the ten perfumes in Onneli’s sampler and ranked them in order of preference.

Dee sighed. “Just take a shower before we leave.”

“Sure, sure,” Gene chirped. “We still have the room, right?”

Ethan nodded.

Nobody in the hotel was acting like there was anything unusual about three vampires standing in the lobby, talking amongst themselves. Maybe Europe really was different. Gene could not imagine that a similar scene in the States wouldn’t at least garner some stares. But nobody here cared.

Cesar had been sketching something in a Moleskine notebook when they got back from dropping off the rental car. While Dee lectured, he walked in slow circles, looping around them as if lost in thought. Gene didn’t notice how close he was until he heard the vampire’s voice just over his shoulder.

“Ohhhh… Where did you get this?”

He bent down and reached into the sturdy black shopping bag Gene had been carrying, pulling out a an equally black cardboard box, unmarked except for the word “Ajaton” printed in silver foil block letters.

Dee rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath.

“At Duty-free.”

Gene thought that was a clever lie. He was happy with how quickly he’d come up with it, how natural he sounded saying it, how logical and convincing it should be…

But he knew it was a bad lie the second he said it and Cesar’s eyebrows pumped up once in amusement.

Evidently, Onneli’s work was too widely known among the undead for that. He probably should have figured.

“Oh really?” Cesar replied. “You just happened to find one of the most exclusive and secretive luxury brands in the world at Duty-free?”

It was Gene’s habit to double and triple down rather than admit he’d been outsmarted. The sound popped like a bubble in his mouth as he said, “Yup.”

“That’s remarkable. I’ve known people who’ve searched for decades. I know one vampire who was sure he’d found the man who made them. He turned his back for a moment and the whole store disappeared.”

“What? The whole building disappeared? You can’t seriously believe a story like that.”

“It’s true! One minute he looked through the window and it was filled with stock, he looks away for only a second and the building is suddenly empty! They say the perfumer only reveals himself to the worthy.”

Gene glanced at Ethan, who shrugged. Must be nice, Gene thought. To hide yourself in time.

“I guess I’m worthy then,” Gene said.

“No wonder you tried them all on. I would too if I found myself in their store. What was it like? You must tell me everything.”

Dee was getting more and more aggravated the longer the conversation went on. She kept glancing at her watch and tapping her foot. And, yeah—okay—they had a plane to catch, but it was a private plane. Not like it was going to take off without them.

Finally, she snapped, “Will the most worthy of vampires please go upstairs, wash that garbage off himself and check out?”