Compromises

All of those shadowy cronies suddenly quit being so well hidden. Out of my peripheral there’s motion, behind Malvolio there’s at least two, and my ears can hear that werewolf snarling. Maybe two, probably more. My grin vanishes at about the same time Malvolio’s does. “Mr. Shade, even if we should choose not to bite you, I do not recall ringing a human’s head off to be particularly hard,” he says harshly. “And pulling the trigger was never easier,” I shoot back. My brain is multi-tasking the options and telling me they’re all sour. Was the kid in trouble? “And they covered that too. You kill me anywhere near here and the cure will taint anyone who touches my blood,” I lie back. It was worth a shot. Malvolio only smiles while a werewolf behind me sniffs and presumably shakes his head. Not to mention the wolf would still be capable of killing me anyways. This whole time Malvolio is slowly lowering me and I’m digging the gun barrel higher into his jaw with every inch I go down. “I hope you don’t intend to keep this up all night,” he says calmly. With the dog fact checking and my survival rate hitting zero it’s time for plan B, mix the truth up a bit. “You want information, right? Fine. I want money. Being mortal has reacquainted me with that vice and suddenly all I can think about is retirement,” I pull the gun down but keep it trained on his face. “Why would you be willing to do that?” Malvolio asks. “I give them all my info on you, they ditch me. I give you all the info on them, I get it worse. Lets just say a former vampire gets a little bit less respect than a real one with the Paladins of Light.” I say. Malvolio blinks and looks blank for a second. “What a terrible name,” he says. I give a short laugh but still keep the gun trained between those black eyes of his. “What I’m proposing, big guy, is the old switch. You pay me, they pay me, and only one side gets decent info,” I explain. “An interesting proposal. Yet why should I trust you?” he asks. “Because there’s a bread truck full of Elite Paladins with machine guns about to storm this place if I don’t step outside smiling,” I reply.