Hero's Curse Read Free

I took out the bag and set it on the ground. I used a stick to open up the bag and expose the head to the sunlight. I expected it to burst into flame. It had to be a vampire.
    It didn’t combust. It just lay there, green and ugly. Wait, was it changing color? It took minutes but it slowly started turning gray. A half-an-hour later I was looking at a granite rock that kind of looked like a head. It no longer had distinct features. What kind of monster turned into stone when exposed to sunlight? I went over to pick it up. Yup, it was a piece of granite. Way too heavy to bring back to the SUV.
    I stumbled back to the SUV. I could still smell Fang’s body odor; it had permeated the carpet. My adrenalin rush was gone. The wise thing would have been to get a hotel room; I was too tired to care about the stink or being smart. I crawled in the back and fell asleep. When I woke up, it was 2 PM.
    I stash my money in a safe deposit box as soon as possible after a heist. An inch thick stack of twenty dollar bills is worth forty-six hundred and forty dollars. I’d picked up about seven inches of bills last night; it had been a fair to middling haul. Banks are the safest places to keep money for everyone, including criminals. As long as you keep paying for the box, no one gets access except you. A seven inch stack of cash is suspicious and a great excuse for a cop to hassle you; safe deposit keys aren’t.
    The serial numbers of the cash I had taken from the ATMs would be on bank databases for years. Optical scanners are so cheap now that even the smallest bank branches have machines that can pick up the serial numbers. Once a year, I charter a boat from the Gulf of Mexico to the Bahamas. They don’t care about serial numbers there. When I wire the money back to the US, I make sure to pay my taxes on my international investment income like every other law abiding citizen. I only work four to six nights a year and easily clear six figures. It’s seems only right I pay my fair share.
    I try my best to be as normal looking as possible when I go to a bank. I need to look like an upstanding citizen when I talk with the manager. I headed to the local 24 Fitness. The nice thing about these national chains was one membership got you into every gym they had. Everyone showers at a gym. Brushing your teeth there isn’t a big deal.
    I acted like a typical gym rat. I made the Nautilus circuit and spent as much time looking at women as I did working out. Once I was done I soaked in the hot tub. God, that felt good.
    My mind kept going back to what had happened last night. I’m a rational guy. I don’t believe in monsters; especially ones that call me ‘mortal’. I’d be more comfortable with what happened last night if the creature that attacked me had looked like ET, Chewbacca, or the Predator. I believe in science. Aliens from outer space make sense to me; they fit my worldview. Things that turn into rocks when exposed to sunlight and call me ‘mortal’ don’t. It would have been so much easier if it had said ‘earthling’ or ‘human’. It would have been awesome if it had a high nasally voice. ‘Earthling, your planet is doomed.’
    I had just finished showering and was getting dressed when a guy approached me. He was an African-American, about six foot two, and was dressed too nicely. His suit had to have cost thousands. He could have been a male model. Handsome wasn’t the right word for him, ‘beautiful’ was better. People go to gyms to hook up. I don’t get hit on by guys often, but it happens; it was turning out to be one of those days. I got ready to turn him down nicely.
    “Victor Paladin, it’s good to finally meet you.”
    I’ve never regretted dumping that name. It’s almost as cheesy and memorable as Dudley Do-Right. I put on a puzzled look. “Sorry friend, but you’ve got the wrong guy. I’m John Evans. I’m pretty sure I don’t know you.”
    He grinned. He even had dimples; it was ridiculous. “I’m sure