Thirst

by Jacquelyn Frank

  She frowned. “Who will decide if you have to face a tribunal?”

  “The committee. It really all depends on you, on whether they accept you as a safe recipient of knowledge of us.”

  “Geez…no pressure,” she said rolling her eyes.

  “You’ll be fine,” he said with a smile. “I have faith.”

  “So this treaty is meant to put aside all of the bickering between vampire cultures?”

  “Yes. Bringing us closer together. Unifying us so we can focus our collective attention on the sycophants in this world. We will once again become one.”

  “Again?”

  “There was a time when there was only one vampire nation. We lived together in one place, in one village. But that was a very long time ago.”

  He looked away from her and she got the feeling he was omitting something. It was just a gut feeling, but as a detective she had learned to trust her gut. It had served her well.

  Just the same she let it slide. He was being pretty transparent. She couldn’t fault him if he wanted to hold back at least a little bit. But what was it he could possibly be holding back? He had told her so much already. Why stop now?

  Still she did not press. He had broken the law for her. What more could she ask of him?

  “Well, I better get dressed and get on with my day.” She took a large sip of her coffee then carried the cup with her into the back bedroom.

  She was pretty much a no-frills woman. With the exception of times like last night, she preferred jeans and a casual shirt. But for work she went with a blouse of indigo silk. She dressed her hair up into a knot at the back of her head and quickly applied her makeup. Like her it was light and casual. She brought a purse to work but didn’t carry it to crime scenes. Instead she carried a zippered binder to write her notes as the crime scene developed. She left her binder in the car whenever it wasn’t in use, which wasn’t often. The binder usually went with her everywhere she went. At present it was sitting on her kitchen counter where she had left it in order to peruse and add to her notes before heading out to dinner the night before. She was currently working about thirteen open homicides, but her focus had been on the most recent. Now she knew what her killer was, she simply didn’t know who. And now Rafe was asking her to throw the case. To be incompetent. She wasn’t sure she could do that. But she supposed she would have to try. The last thing she wanted to do was corner the wrong suspect and get one of her fellow officers hurt. Or worse, killed.

  She finished getting ready and hurried back into the kitchen. Rafe had closed his laptop and was waiting for her. He got to his feet when she entered the room.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  They went out to the car and she found it had been cleaned of all the snow that had accumulated in their sleep. Rafe must have done it when he had gone for his laptop. She stepped in the deep snow to get to the passenger side, immediately getting her pants wet at the ankles. But she made it to the car and, with a quick stomp of her feet to shed any snow she had accumulated from the side of the running board, she tucked herself into the car. She took out her phone and texted James. She wanted to make certain he was driving today so at least one of them would have a car. He texted back that he did indeed have wheels and that he was on his way in. He also wanted to know who was giving her a ride to the precinct, but she dodged the question with a quick No one you know. Then she checked her texts and found several from Emily. As expected she was all atwitter about the fact that Rafe had apparently slept over last night. She wanted all of the details…especially the dirty ones.

  Renee didn’t know how to respond to her friend. Yes, Rafe had spent the night, but not for the reasons Emily thought. She could explain that it had simply been too unsafe to drive home and that he had slept in the guest room. Yes. That was a good idea. It would avoid the real reasons why he had stayed and derail Emily’s misconceptions. She shot her friend a quick text only to have her respond just as quickly with an Oh poo! Now I’m all disappointed! and then Are you SURE you didn’t have hot monkey sex? You really could use it! She followed it up with a monkey emoji. Renee laughed out loud in a burst of bright humor.

  “Something funny?” he asked.

  “Oh. It’s nothing. Emily thinks, well, she knows you didn’t leave last night so she assumed…” She trailed off meaningfully.

  “Ah. Well, tell her I stayed because I was too drunk to drive home or something. I don’t mind being the fall guy.”

  “I told her it was because of the weather.”

  “Also a good idea.”

  “I like yours too. I’ll use that tomorrow.”

  She realized the minute she said it that she had assumed he would be spending the night with her again. But the truth was he had already said he was determined to protect her. Still, this couldn’t go on forever.

  “We have to do something about these attacks. Cut them off at the source. Only then will I be safe again.”

  “We do not have to do anything. I will alert our authoritarians and they will look into the matter.”

  “Authoritarians?”

  “Our police force. They will find out who is behind this and then they will direct our bounty hunters to bring them in.”

  “I could help. I could—”

  “No! Absolutely not.”

  “Rafe, this is my skill set! This is what I do! Let me at least research—”

  “I said no!”

  “You know, you aren’t my boss,” she snapped back. “You don’t get to tell me what to do!”

  “I think in this case I do. Come on, Renee. Use your head and not your heart. Your heart wants to hunt for these dangerous phants, but your head should tell you that in spite of your impressive skill set, you are no match for whatever sycophant is out there waiting for you to cross its path.”

  Renee seethed silently, but it was because she knew he was right. Still, she had held her own last night. She could protect herself now that she knew how to kill the bastards.

  “Fine. Whatever,” she said sullenly.

  After a moment he reached across the car and took her hand in his. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know how frustrating this must be for you.”

  “I really don’t think you do,” she said, temper still in her tone.

  “Do you think it will be easy for me to turn over the investigation into your safety to someone else? To trust them to do a good job? It will be one of the most difficult things I will have ever managed. But I must make myself aware of the differences between my head and my heart. My heart wants to tear these phants apart and make you safe again, my head understands that this is not a battle I can win on my own.”

  She set her jaw and didn’t answer him. He sighed and paid attention to his driving. They drove in silence for the entire distance to the precinct. But one thing he didn’t do was let go of her hand. Instead he laced his fingers through hers and held on tightly. It was an intimate, connecting gesture, and by the time she reached her job she was no longer mad at him. Actually, she hadn’t been mad at him in the first place. Just frustrated at the situation.

  “Remember, stay in crowds at all times today.”

  “That shouldn’t be too difficult.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  She could see the worry in his eyes. Felt the tension in his hand. He was incredibly concerned for her.

  “I promise, I’ll be fine.”

  “Call me at regular intervals today so I know you are well,” he said.

  “I’ll text you,” she said.

  “No. I want to hear your voice. Anyone can send me a text.”

  “All right,” she said, her tone softening. “Please don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

  He reached out with his free hand and caught the side of her head in his large palm. He pulled her close and swept her lips up against his in a heated, almost desperate, kiss. By the time he was done, she was breathless, her mouth burning. Then he let her go. She slipped out of the
car with her binder in hand and hurried away.

  As soon as she was out of sight, Rafe made a phone call.

  “Fallon,” the man on the other end answered by way of greeting.

  “It’s Rafe. I have a job for you.”

  “Will it be as fun as the last one?”

  “I anticipate it will be quite boring overall.”

  “What the hell? I have better things to do, more exciting things to do.”

  “I will make it worth your patience and your time.”

  “Hmm. What’s the job?”

  “I want you to keep an eye on a human woman. A police detective.”

  “What gives? Is she getting close to exposure?”

  “I’m afraid it’s gone beyond that. No. She’s in danger. She has been attacked by phants and the one that got away promised he would be coming back.”

  “You shouldn’t have let him get away,” Fallon said.

  “No shit,” Rafe said wryly. “But it’s too late now to fix it. She’s exposed. We’re exposed. I can watch over her at night, but during the day…”

  “Right. You have world peace to negotiate. I get it. So what are you going to do for me if I do this?”

  “I could talk to Danton, get you moved up in rank.”

  “No thanks. Upward mobility means playing politics. I’m better off in the field. I prefer to kick ass and take names.”

  “What would you like me to do for you?” Rafe asked, even though he knew it was dangerous to leave an open-ended possibility out there.

  “I’ll think of something. Let’s just say you’ll owe me one. How big of a one will depend on just how boring the job is.” He paused a beat. “And how cute the target is.”

  “Hands off, Fallon. I’m serious about that.”

  “Don’t worry,” Fallon said with an easy chuckle. “I won’t play with your food. I’m assuming that’s what she is. Food?”

  Rafe hesitated just long enough to give Fallon a good impression of the situation.

  “Wow. So you’re the one who’s playing with his food. Never thought I’d live to see the day.”

  “And you still might not live to see the day,” Rafe said dangerously. “Keep your impressions about the situation to yourself.”

  “Right. Got it. Although it’s killing me not to tease you about it.”

  “Don’t make me have to kick your ass, Fallon. You know I can do it.”

  “You’re one of the few. Give me the info on the woman.”

  Rafe did so, telling him what precinct she was at and her name and all the other vital statistics he could think of.

  “I’ll look up her picture on the DMV site. Anything else I should know?”

  “Just don’t get made. She’s sharp. And she’s on edge. She’ll notice if someone is following her too closely.”

  “You’re not going to tell her I’m there?”

  “Not right now. I’ll tell her…later. Just watch your six.”

  “Got it. Watching my back. And hers. Trust me, I’ll take good care of her.”

  “I wouldn’t have called you if I didn’t think you could. I’ll pick her up at the end of her work day. Once you see me with her you can back off.”

  “And how long am I doing this for? With all the delegates coming into town, Danton is probably going to ask me to guard someone’s safety.”

  “I’ll take care of Danton. You just worry about what I tell you to worry about.”

  “If you say so. I’m leaving now. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

  “I’ll wait until I see you.”

  “See you then.”

  —

  After Fallon arrived, Rafe drove directly home. He showered and dressed, then packed some things into an overnight bag. Enough to last him a couple of nights. He wasn’t about to let Renee spend any time alone after last night. It was bad enough he’d had to let her go today. But he had things he needed to do. Things she couldn’t be a part of.

  He then took the elevator down to his work floor, knowing the queen would no longer be in her home. She would be working, smoothing out any last-minute wrinkles with the new changes to the treaty. It was Friday and the signing of the treaty was taking place Monday. Delegates from all of the vampire city-states would begin arriving as soon as tomorrow. They needed to find whoever it was that was taking potshots at lawful vampires before the city began to fill up with the sensitive lives of foreign royalty.

  Rafe dropped his overnight bag into his office then went directly to Simone’s. Her secretary stood up as he walked past her and tried to get him to stop before going in.

  “She’s in a meeting,” she said hurriedly.

  “I don’t have time to wait,” he said brusquely as he pushed past her.

  He opened Simone’s door and walked through it, surprising the queen and the man who was massaging her back. Simone was lying facedown on the massage table, nude save for a towel draped over her backside. She looked up at Rafe’s entrance and after a single look at his face she said, “Reynaldo, give me my robe.”

  The masseuse did so immediately and Simone unabashedly sat up and slipped into the robe. Rafe could appreciate the queen’s finely sculpted nude body, but that was where his appreciation ended. He had no desire where Simone was concerned, even though she had tried once or twice to tempt him.

  She tied her robe on and dismissed Reynaldo. The masseuse folded up his portable table and hurried out of the office.

  “I needed to unwind a little,” Simone explained needlessly. “I’ve been fielding phone calls since last night, explaining myself over and over again to stubborn leaders and soothing so many frayed nerves that mine became frayed too.”

  “I understand,” he said. “But we need to talk. It is a matter of great urgency.”

  “More urgent than the treaty? My, that does sound serious.”

  “It is serious. It’s about these attacks on lawful vampires.”

  “Oh. That. I’ve put Danton and his troops onto the matter. He will get back to me as soon as he knows what is provoking these attacks on vampires.”

  “That’s just it, it isn’t just vampires. My…food sources are being threatened.” Rafe didn’t know how else to describe his relationship with Renee. Not in any way the queen might understand. While it was not unheard of for vampires to dally with humans, it was seriously frowned upon to develop any kind of serious emotions where they were involved.

  Not that he had developed serious emotions, he told himself quickly. But he was growing quite fond of Renee and he would hate to see anything happen to her because of him.

  Because of a war she had nothing to do with.

  Chapter 12

  Simone took this news very seriously. Pristine food sources were hard to come by in a society full of fast foodies and sedentary lifestyles. Not to mention recreational and serious drug use. Even alcohol was considered somewhat toxic, although not as much as the others. A vampire who fed on a slightly intoxicated human was not in threat of turning phant, but he would become drunk off that kind of energy himself. It was best to be avoided. They couldn’t really drink alcohol themselves, most vampires being lightweights and easily intoxicated. Again, it was best avoided altogether.

  “How do you know?” she demanded.

  “One of my sources was with me last night when I was attacked. The phant made a direct threat on her life.”

  “I see,” Simone said with a serious frown. “This is awful news.”

  “Humans we feed from are completely unprotected. Everyone who has fed since these attacks began yesterday might have put their source in jeopardy.”

  “I will have all lawful vampires check on the well-being of any recent sources right away. This is dreadful. Utterly dreadful. It’s not as though we can keep from eating and exposing those sources. We will start to starve.”

  “I think that is the plan. And if they have been planning this for a while, if they have been watching us feed, they can systematically eradicate all of our food sources. I
t will be a bloodbath and can expose us to the human world. There has already been an incident with a witness.”

  “Yes, the human murder a couple of days ago. In broad daylight. I don’t know what they are thinking or who is behind it. Let me call Danton in here and perhaps he can shed some light on the matter.”

  It turned out that Danton was out of the building, and it would be a few minutes before he got back. It was the perfect opportunity for Rafe to come clean about Renee and the fact that he had exposed their world to her.

  “Simone…there has been a direct threat to one of my sources, as I said.”

  “Yes.”

  “We were attacked last night…together.”

  “You said you were not alone.”

  “I wasn’t. I was with the detective working the homicide by the phant in broad daylight.”

  Simone went still, then her fingers began to tap out a rapid tattoo of sound. “I hope you were just gathering information.”

  “I fed from her the night before and used hypno to find out where she was with the case.”

  “So it just so happens she is a clean source?”

  “Actually yes. A fortuitous thing for me, not so fortuitous for her. Last night the phant said he would get her. If not him then someone else.”

  “First, why were you with her last night? Gathering more information?”

  “Partly. I wanted to know if she was getting close. What the coroner’s report said. Things like that.”

  “Partly?” Simone asked archly.

  “Yes. There were other reasons. More…personal.”

  “Ah. So you find her attractive.”

  “Very much so,” he admitted.

  Simone chuckled. “Rafe, you are like a schoolboy admitting he has a crush on a girl. I will not judge you. I find humans to be very attractive.”

  “She saw things last night. She saw me use electroshock and was forced to kill a phant to save her life.”

  Simone slowly stood up out of her chair.

  “Tell me you used hypno on her afterward.”

  Rafe could only shake his head in the negative.

  “Rafe!”

  “What was I supposed to do?” he asked, suddenly explosive. “Leave her with no means of protecting herself? The phants made it very clear she is a target! At least this way she knows they are gunning for her and she knows how to kill them.”