Thirst

by Jacquelyn Frank

  “First, put your gun away. Then we need to find somewhere warm where we can talk. Where you can come down from this adrenaline rush. Then I will explain everything.”

  “I’m not leaving the crime scene!” she said, struggling for every word as the cold sank into her so deeply she was afraid she would never get warm again. Her hands and feet felt like ice, every movement of her shuddering body felt slow and lethargic.

  “You’re in shock,” Rafe murmured into her ear as he pried her fingers from around her gun, put the safety on, and put the gun in her purse. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to conserve what little warmth remained. Rafe, his body a wall of heat, drew her into his arms and shared that heat with her.

  “Your crime scene, unlike your perpetrators, is not going anywhere. We’ll go just around the corner, into the pizza parlor right there. We’ll sit where it’s warm and we’ll talk about what to do next.”

  Renee couldn’t think, that was how cold she was, so she simply nodded and let him lead her out of the alley. They entered the pizza parlor a few steps later and he guided her into one of the hard wooden booths. But instead of sitting across from her, he had her scoot deeper into the booth and sat beside her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her tight and close, his free hand finding hers and bringing them up against the warmth of his solid chest. Here he rubbed her against himself in an effort to warm her icy fingers.

  “You knew,” she said through her clicking teeth. “You knew how to stop them.”

  “Yes. I did,” he agreed grimly.

  “How did you know? What…what were they?”

  “What do you think they were?”

  “I don’t know! Don’t turn this around on me. Answer the question! What were they?”

  “They’re called sycophants. They’re energy vampires that feed off the energy of others.”

  “But I saw you throw balls of electricity too,” she said. “A-are you one of them?”

  “I am very different from them. We are the same in that we both need to feed on human energy to survive, but we are different in our intent. Sycophants are criminals. They feed off poisonous energy sources like drug addicts. They often traffic in drugs and humans and other types of crime. They have been known to take too much, which kills their resource.”

  “Like my victim from a couple of days ago? He had bite marks on the back of his neck like these,” she said, reaching up to gingerly touch the fang wounds on the back of his neck.

  “Yes.” He was quiet a moment. “I am an energy vampire. But unlike sycophants I am careful and discerning about where I get my energy from. I protect my resources from harm and treat them with respect and care. Most often they don’t even know I was there. I am careful that there is no trauma involved in the taking of energy.”

  “But how can they not know you were there? I think I would remember if someone bit down on my neck.”

  “No. You would not. We use hypnosis so you only remember what we want you to remember.”

  Renee thought back to the previous night. To how she couldn’t remember the walk up her stairs or why she had gone to bed with only her T-shirt on.

  “Oh my god! You did it to me!” She shoved at him, trying to force distance between their bodies. Two of the parlor’s patrons, the only two people there besides them and the man attending the counter, looked over at them as she raised her voice.

  “Shh,” he tried to soothe her. “Yes. This is true. But I would never hurt you.”

  “You stole my energy without my permission! You…you…” Her hand went to the back of her neck and she felt for the wound that should be there. She hadn’t noticed the sore spot until the moment she touched it.

  “Renee, I must always take from my resources without their permission. It is the only way I can survive. Can you imagine? What if you had to ask a cow for permission before you slaughtered it to become your meal? Or a chicken? Or any piece of vegetable? If these things were sentient and intelligent would they willingly volunteer? A lawful energy vampire like me only takes what we need, leaving our resources safe and even content, with good memories of friendship from the encounter. We don’t hurt—”

  “It’s a violation!” she hissed at him.

  “I’m sorry you feel that way. But if I removed the block to your memory about last night, you might feel differently.”

  “Yes! Do that. We’ll see how different I feel!”

  “Very well. Look at me. In my eyes.”

  “You’re not going to try anything devious are you?” she asked skeptically. “How do I know you won’t just wipe away my memory of all that’s happened so far?”

  “I could do that. It would be easier for me. But…” He looked hard into her eyes. “I am trusting you. Everything ingrained within me, everything I have used to protect myself these past centuries, has me feeling I should do exactly that. Wipe your memory. Leave you none the wiser. But I am trusting that you will understand why our existence must be kept secret from the world. At least for now. It is not really my place to choose to allow you to be aware of our existence, but I am doing it anyway. As I said earlier, I do not want any lies to come between us.”

  “This is a pretty big lie.”

  “It is a secret, not a lie. But I am aware that I sometimes must lie in order to keep this secret. Now I must have faith in your heart and faith in your intellect that you will understand why the secret must be kept.”

  “I doubt I will see it the way you do,” she said coldly.

  “We will see,” he said. “Now look into my eyes and try to relax. I cannot use hypno on you if your adrenaline is pumping.”

  “Or you would have done it already?” she asked bitterly.

  “Perhaps I would have. If only to protect you. I don’t think you appreciate the danger knowing this secret will put you in.”

  Actually, Renee could imagine quite clearly the danger she would be put in, but she was not deterred.

  “Do it.”

  “All right. Think back to last night. We were in the snow, standing in front of your door. My mouth touching yours.”

  His voice went low, sounding husky and soft, his expression telling her that he was remembering exactly as she was remembering. Then again, there wasn’t enough hypnotism in the world to make her forget that kiss. It had been so deep. So intense. For a moment she doubted whether it had been real at all, doubted whether or not it was a trick as well, but then as the moment replayed in her memory she knew that it was real. As real as the battle moments ago had been. She felt warm at last as he unblocked her memory of what had happened after the kiss.

  “Those kisses were amazing. They all but brought me to my knees. I had to taste you. I had to take your energy into me…had to know what it would feel like. And it so fulfilled its promise. You remember now? Yes? The electric feel of you nourishing the starved places of my soul and body?”

  “Yes,” she said breathlessly. “I remember.”

  It had been so highly sexualized a moment, the act of him feeding on her, that it had felt nearly orgasmic. Remembering it now made her flush with warmth, chasing the last of her chills away. And now she no longer felt violated. Instead she felt craving. What would it feel like, to feel that again and this time be allowed to remember every moment of it while it was happening? The back of her neck tingled at the idea and she had to look away from him as she colored.

  “You see? It was not so bad an experience. I am sorry I did not ask your permission. But I promise that in the future I will. That is, if there is to be a future between us.”

  “I don’t understand. Why bother with me at all? Why not rob me of all my memories and be done with me? Is it because of my investigation?”

  “It may have started out that way, may have begun as a means to an end, but it has since become something more. Something with a life all its own. Something I wish to discover with you.”

  He touched her face then, his fingertips caressing the rise of her cheek slowly. It was an intima
te gesture and one she felt keenly.

  “So what happens now? Why were we attacked?”

  “I’m afraid that is my fault,” he said. “I am a man of some importance in my world. There is an historical event taking place amongst the e-vamps—the energy vampires—a treaty of gigantic consequence. Taking me out or taking me captive might have some influence on the queen. I should hope not. I would hope that the benefit of the many would far outweigh the life of a single vampire, but perhaps they think I would be leverage enough to make her reconsider.”

  “You must be very special to her.”

  “I wrote up most of the treaty, so my hand has been heavy in this endeavor. It may be that this was a random attack, only…”

  “Only?”

  “I was attacked last night as well, after leaving you in your bed.”

  Renee colored as she remembered him undressing her and tucking her into her bed. But her self-consciousness was immediately tempered by the import of his words.

  “Two attacks in as many nights cannot be coincidence.”

  “No. It cannot, can it?” He sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. He winced and she remembered he had been savagely bitten there.

  “Did he take energy from you?” she asked with new concern.

  “A little. Nothing of consequence. Just remember, when dealing with a sycophant it cannot be killed except by severing the electrical connection between the brain and the rest of the body. The back of the neck. It’s key.”

  “I will remember that from now on, believe me.”

  “I wish that you did not have to. I would prefer to remove you from danger. But now that you have been associated with me…That sycophant threatened you. If I were to wipe your memory of all that happened I would be leaving you out in the cold, leaving you without the awareness and knowledge that you need to protect yourself. I cannot, in good conscience, do that. But that is only part of my reasoning for keeping you aware of our secret existence. It is because I’m afraid I would be missing out on something special without you beside me. And to feel this after only twenty-four hours of knowing you…that says something.”

  Renee had to agree with him. There was something about him that pulled at her. True, she feared what he was, feared what it meant to know him and of him, but she was not a woman who was prone to letting her fear control her choices in life.

  Still, she wasn’t reckless either. She could see the inherent danger in his life touching hers. Was it worth it? Was this tenuous connection, this draw toward one another, worth the danger they were in?

  Renee was surprised to hear the resounding yes in her thoughts. It was clear she was coming to feel very attracted to him, even in spite of his having taken from her without her permission. But she understood his need for secrecy. She also appreciated that he was willing to keep the veil between their worlds pulled back so she could better protect herself. Still, it couldn’t be easy for him. Everything he’d ever done, she imagined, had been centered on keeping others from knowing he and his breed existed. But here he was, willing to remain exposed to her. And not just because he was trying to protect her. He said there was more to it than that. She felt that there was more to it than that.

  “We should go,” she said. “Someone will have reported hearing gunshots.”

  “Perhaps. But you are right. We should go. We’ll go back to my car and I will drive you home. Hopefully we will make it there without further incident. I am worried, however. I would feel better if that last sycophant had not gotten away. He will report back about all that he saw. He will report back about you.”

  Rafe got to his feet and held a hand out to her. She took it and he helped her to her feet.

  Chapter 9

  They walked out of the pizza parlor and back the way they had come. There was no sign of police as they approached the alley where the fight had taken place.

  “My brass!” she cried suddenly. “If the police come they will find the brass casings to the shots that were fired. It could be traced back to my service weapon.”

  She hurried into the alleyway, ignoring Rafe’s protests. She reached for her phone and turned on the flashlight, shining it around in the dark. She quickly retraced all of the steps she could remember taking and began to look for the brass casings to her bullets. She recovered all but one. She would just have to hope it was lost in the snow where it could not be found. She then took Rafe’s hand and let him lead her quickly out of the alley and back down the street to where his SUV was parked. They were safely ensconced in just a few minutes. Rafe threw the car into gear and drove away from the scene of the attack.

  Silence fell between them for the entirety of the ride back to Renee’s apartment in Brooklyn. Renee’s thoughts were awash in all that she had learned and she could only guess at what Rafe was thinking. This had to be troubling him as much as it was troubling her. He must be feeling exposed. After all, how could he know if he could trust her? Should he trust her? She was a cop. Wasn’t it her duty to tell someone about this?

  And what would she say exactly? Oh, by the way, vampires are real. Only they don’t drink blood, they take energy. And they commit assaults in order to feed themselves.

  Who would believe her? She barely believed it herself. Had she not seen it with her own eyes, experienced it in her own memories…

  And what about her case? Now that she knew what kind of man had attacked her vic, how was she to go about finding the exact vampire who had done the attack? And once she found him, what could she possibly do to bring him to justice?

  “What do you do to sycophants who break the law?” she asked him. “If I find the sycophant who killed my vic, would you see to it justice is served?”

  “Renee, you can’t possibly be considering going after a sycophant now that you know what they can do to you!” Rafe objected.

  “Of course I’m considering it! I can’t just let a murderer get away!”

  “You can and you will. Leave the investigation to me and my people. We will see that justice is served. One of the reasons I’ve been watching you was to protect you if you got too close to the truth. To intercept by taking care of the sycophant before you could reach him, should you figure out who he is before I do. Now that you know what you are dealing with the best protection is for you to throw the case. Let us handle it.”

  “And just how will you do that?”

  “We have our ways. We have our own policing methods. You have to trust us to take care of it.”

  “I’m just supposed to let it go? I can’t do that! I have to investigate this murder exactly like I would any other. Otherwise it will look like I’m not doing my job!”

  “You can pretend to investigate it as much as you like, but the real investigation should be left to us.”

  Renee bit her lip and clenched her fists. She didn’t like being told what she could and could not do. She didn’t like being told to throw an investigation. It went against every grain in her body.

  No. She couldn’t just let it go. She had a job to do and she was going to do it. She would find the sycophant that had killed her victim, then she would turn him over to Rafe’s people for justice. She didn’t know what that entailed though. What was their method of justice?

  “What will happen to him once you find him? What do you do with sycophants that murder?”

  Rafe’s jaw tightened. She could see it as the streetlights overhead flashed light into the car.

  “We have capital punishment for crimes of that magnitude.”

  “You don’t have prisons?”

  “The logistics of how we would feed a prisoner are impossible. They could never be trusted not to take a life again. Once a sycophant has a taste for killing, they only want more. No resource would be safe between their lips ever again.”

  “What of lesser crimes? What do you do then?”

  “The very act of becoming a sycophant—of crossing over from a clean vampire to one that thrives on the poisonous energy sources all around us—is cons
idered a capital crime. The punishment is the same for all sycophants. Death on sight. Any clean vampire who comes across a sycophant not only has permission to destroy them, but they are obligated to. You have to understand just how deadly and dangerous this breed of vampire is. The choice to become a sycophant is exactly that—a choice. You don’t accidentally decide to start feeding on poison. It’s a conscious act.”

  “I see,” she said quietly.

  She did see. And when he explained it like that, she could agree. But surely…

  “Isn’t there some way a sycophant can be rehabilitated? If they go back to feeding from clean resources? Or—”

  “There is a time period during which becoming a sycophant is a mutable thing. But it is a short time period. Days. Maybe a week at most. If a vampire feeds from a polluted source he can undo the damage if it’s corrected immediately. However, there is no going back after a certain amount of time has passed, and there is no going back if the vampire has killed during a feed.”

  “I see. But it is possible for a sycophant to become a normal vampire again? What if the vampire can become clean again? How do you know if you kill without exception?”

  “Cases like that are beyond rare,” he said.

  “But it is possible.”

  “Renee, your desire to be fair does you credit, but I promise you the likelihood of this is almost nil. And when faced with a poisoned mind…it’s like an addiction for them. Once they have a taste of the drug they don’t want to let it go. The craving is irresistible.”

  “I’ve seen even the worst addicts come out of it, make something of themselves.”

  “Inasmuch as this is the same it is also different. I cannot explain it to you in ways you could ever comprehend unless you were experiencing it for yourself.”

  Renee fell silent again. In spite of the things she saw in her job every day, she still believed people were inherently reclaimable. Perhaps not murderers or those who gladly committed heinous acts, but most who had lost their path needed only to find it again.