Accordant

Chapter Five

A cat shrieked at street level.

Eight stories up, Jaime Rennick threw a coffee mug at the wall. It was the third time his sleep that night had been interrupted. This was important because before he had turned in to bed, he had not slept in sixty-eight hours. He was beginning to think it wasn't meant to be.

He dragged himself to his feet and crossed the apartment to pick up the shards of porcelain. Faint moonlight streamed in through half-turned blinds, lending enough of a glow to the white walls to guide his steps.

Gingerly he scooped up the pieces of mug and escorted them to a trash can. They made a loud clatter as they fell down the empty receptacle. Startled, Jaime glanced around as though he could see his neighbors, hoping he hadn't woken them. Surely they had heard all that noise.

But nothing stirred, so no one in the apartments adjacent to his seemed to have been disturbed.

Scrolling through his phone's contacts list, Jaime played a familiar game: Guessing which of his friends, if he called them at nearly midnight on a weekday, would be least likely to kick his ass. Of course, if he chose wrong, most of those friends would be nice about it. But still, it would be rude to wake someone at such an hour.

This time, he selected Reynardo Morales. A vampire, Reynardo was almost certain to still be awake, even if the whole "sunlight burns" thing was not the case with him. Also, Reynardo only lived a couple of blocks away, in yet another upscale Central Business District apartment building. The difference was, Reynardo could afford his sky-high rent.

A few minutes later, Reynardo arrived with a giant bottle of melatonin. "I've tried that," Jaime said immediately, his tone flat with exhaustion.

"These come from the office of Dr. Astaire Kenton," Reynardo replied, handing him the bottle. "Rated to ease the symptoms of preternatural senses."

Jaime grimaced. "So you're saying these aren't melatonin pills."

"They aren't exactly FDA-approved." Reynardo went to the top-of-the-line refrigerator and poured Jaime a glass of water.

"You seem pretty sold on this superhuman stuff," Jaime said warily.

"I am something of an expert." Rey handed the glass to Jaime and settled into a sofa chair. "It was not so long ago that I experienced my own transformation."

Jaime scowled mildly. "Wasn't that like three thousand years ago?"

"More or less." Rey waved a hand. "Take the pills."

With a heavy sigh, Jaime dropped two pills into his hand and swallowed them with a gulp of water. "I mean, I don't really think this is gonna work."

"Then why did you call me?" Reynardo asked.

Jaime shrugged. "I was bored."

"Boredom is good. Dullness leads to sleep." Rey smiled. "A little hope is not a terrible thing."

Jaime shrugged again and settled into a chair. "So, what supernatural creature did you bet I am?"

"Hmm?" Reynardo raised an eyebrow.

"I know you and the other guys have a pool going," Jaime said. "What was your bet?"

Reynardo scoffed loudly. "Humph! We have no such thing."

Jaime stared at him.

"Well, I bet that you are a werewolf," Rey said. "I am a vampire. I can sense these things."

"So you bet that I belong to the species that is canonically antagonistic toward vampires? Sounds like a lie to me, Rey."

"Well, it hardly means that you and I have to be enemies," Reynardo retorted. "Many of my friends are werewolves, or other types of were."