Thirst

by Jacquelyn Frank

  “Then she knows how to kill us,” Simone said darkly. “And she’s a police officer. Rafe, what were you thinking? Exposing us just to protect one woman?”

  “She won’t say anything about us. And anyway it’s better that she knows. Now she’ll stop investigating that phant murder she is working on.”

  “And just like that she’s willing to give up on her investigation? She doesn’t sound very dedicated to her job,” Simone said.

  “She is highly dedicated. It wasn’t easy to convince her to let it go.”

  “And you’re sure she is going to listen to you? To behave herself as far as our concerns go?”

  Rafe hesitated. “She didn’t exactly give me her word about it. But then, I didn’t ask for it either. We simply agreed it would be what was best.”

  Simone sighed and rubbed at her temples a moment. “You know I have to report this to the committee, don’t you? I can’t show you any favoritism or support. This is too critical an act. She will have to be rigorously vetted. They may not approve and may wipe her memory all the same. I can only hope no damage will be done in the meantime. But, Rafe, there has to be more to it than you feeling she was in danger and needed to protect herself. Do you have feelings for her?”

  “Simone, I’ve only known her a couple of days.”

  “Sometimes it only takes one.” She watched his expression carefully so he made certain there was nothing for her to see.

  The truth was, he did feel connected to Renee. On some level even he didn’t understand. And if he didn’t understand it, he could hardly explain it to someone else. Not that confiding in Simone would be his first choice in any event. They were friends—close friends—and he trusted her, but her people would always come first. That made her a bad person to confide in. Then again, she was the closest friend he had. If he couldn’t turn to her, then who could he turn to?

  Feeling suddenly bereft, Rafe turned from her and walked to the floor-to-ceiling glass wall that looked out onto the city. It was such a vast cityscape encompassing so many lives, and yet even though he was standing in the middle of millions of people he still felt alone. Lonely. He hadn’t felt that way last night while in the company of a beautiful, strong-willed blonde, however. He had felt easy. Relaxed. He had, for a short time, forgotten about the pressures of his life and the import of things to come. Then it had all changed and his life had come crashing down on them.

  “I don’t know how I feel,” he lied to her. Partly lied. There was definitely something there, but he didn’t know what. He should turn his back and leave it at that. Relationships between vampires and humans were fairly doomed from the start. First, they needed committee permission to carry on the liaison; second, there was no escaping the stigma that came with essentially dating your food. To many vampires, having a love affair with a human was akin to a human having a love affair with a cow…or a stalk of broccoli. Rafe didn’t feel that way. He assigned much more depth to humans. Both good and bad. For instance, a cow would never start a charitable organization to take care of homeless cows. A stalk of broccoli wouldn’t murder another stalk of broccoli.

  “Perhaps you should not see her again,” Simone said. “At least not until the committee has vetted her.”

  “I can’t do that. She is out there, unprotected without me. Surely you can see why it would be wrong of me to leave her to her own devices.”

  “Perhaps. Perhaps we should send someone else to watch over her.”

  “I’ve already arranged for someone to watch over her during the day, Fallon. But she doesn’t know about him yet. I’m not certain she would trust him. She trusts me. I’ll take over during the night.”

  “And you don’t trust anyone else to do this for you? What about Halo?”

  Rafe scoffed. “Halo would try to bed her in a heartbeat. He goes after anything female. He might protect her, but he’d use her at the same time.”

  “Rafe, be careful,” Simone warned gently. “You’re sticking your neck out for a woman you hardly know.”

  “She says she won’t tell anyone about us and I believe her.”

  “It doesn’t matter whether or not you believe her. It matters if the committee believes her.”

  “When will you tell them?”

  “As soon as you leave my office. Unless you prefer to do it?”

  “I do. I won’t be tattled on like an errant schoolboy. I am capable of owning up to my own actions.”

  “Very well. I will trust you to do it after we meet with Danton.”

  Simone left her desk and walked into her bathroom. She came out a short time later fully dressed in a smart business suit and blouse. She had let down her hair and it now floated freely about her shoulders and down her back. She was a beautiful woman. Sharp witted and well-grounded. Yet she too was alone in the world. Perhaps even lonelier than he was because she had the lives of the vampire nation in her hands.

  Danton arrived moments later and they sat down close to the windows where Rafe had been standing. Danton was tall and had a commanding presence even when he was seated.

  “Danton, we need to be updated on these attacks against lawful vampires,” Simone said. “Also, were you aware that food sources are being threatened as well?”

  “I was not aware of that, no. I will look into it immediately.”

  “Vampires should be told to surreptitiously check on the well-being of all recent food sources,” Rafe said. “I will get the message out.”

  “Leave that to me,” Simone said. “It will carry more import if it comes directly from the queen. Danton, have you any idea where these attacks are coming from?”

  “I do actually.”

  “Where?” Rafe demanded to know.

  “From a phant named Killean. He is in charge of the phant gangs down along the waterfronts. Word is he is organizing a coup on behalf of Draz while all of the representatives of the city-states are here to witness it. Draz is aspiring high, perhaps because he has been in control of the phants of this region for so long. Killean does have numbers on his side. Almost every phant in those parts of the city are under his purview. It used to be that he was content to just run drugs and traffic in humans, to be the king of his own little phant world, but something has changed and he is planning on making a big move. Taking out our food sources could be just a first step in weakening us.”

  “You must do something about him. Do you know where to find him?”

  “That’s just it. He’s constantly on the move, his location always kept secret except to his inner circle. I have tried to get close to him, believe me. But you know we can’t send in a lawful vampire undercover. The minute they are forced to feed from an impure food source to prove themselves trustworthy is the moment they will be lost, making all our efforts worth nothing and coming at too high a cost.”

  Rafe clenched and unclenched his fists in agitation. There had to be a way. He knew that even he could not protect Renee every minute of every day indefinitely, no matter how many people he assigned to her.

  “What of the humans he surrounds himself with? Could you potentially put someone on him that way?”

  “There are precious few humans who know who and what we are. And those who do know understand how dangerous the phants are. They also know a phant can use hypno on them and extract the truth from them.”

  “Unless a hypno suggestion from a stronger vampire is used to cover over the truth,” Simone said.

  “It would have to be a damn strong vampire. I wouldn’t risk anyone unless it was the strongest of us.”

  “I am a damn strong vampire,” Simone said. “I can do it.”

  “All right. Say you do. Say you put in a suggestion that protects them from Killean’s hypno ability, you’d let a human go in there all alone? Unprotected? No backup? What if a group of them wants to feed off that human? Because, that’s really the only purpose humans serve in Killean’s inner circle. Food. And vampires like that prefer unclean sources. Drug addicts and the like. Send in a clean source
and they’ll get suspicious.”

  “We can dirty up a human. A dose of heroin or crack will do the trick. Maybe some painkillers or liquor, something less addictive.”

  “God, what a thing to ask of someone,” Rafe injected.

  “It’s better than the alternative. Risk the life of one to spare the lives of many.”

  “Who do we ask to do such a thing?” Rafe asked.

  “I’ll find someone,” Danton said. “In the meantime, we have to be very protective of our sources.”

  “That’s going to be hard with an influx of vampires coming into the country. Our sources are going to be used to feed those vampires who need it.”

  “This is going to heavily tax our already stressed authoritarians. I have every available body working security in one form or another. I even have the bounty hunters recalled into service. Not that any of them are happy about it. The lot of them are adrenaline junkies. Working security detail to them is boring and tedious.”

  “Too bad,” Simone said sharply. “I don’t care how boring it is. They better do their jobs.”

  “They will. I have the hunters assigned to the most high-risk targets. Just to keep them interested.”

  “Is that wise? These are diplomats. The more high risk they are the more sensitive they are likely to be. We don’t need someone like Halo responsible for the safety of, say, the prince of Egypt. He is temperamental and would see Halo as an uncouth barbarian.”

  “I took all of this into account. I assigned like to like. Halo will be watching over the diplomat from Sydney, Australia. Taron likes his fun rough and his women rougher. That’s right up Halo’s alley.”

  “Wonderful. So the two of them will raise hell together,” Simone said dryly.

  “Halo has been warned to keep things sane. I think he understands.”

  “You think. But there’s no reining in Halo when he doesn’t want to be reined in,” Rafe said.

  “We’ll have to see. It’s not perfect by far, but it’s what we have to work with.”

  “What are your plans for Fallon?” Rafe asked. “I have him working protection for something else. I won’t need him at night, but…”

  “But you’d like access to him the rest of the time? I think I can cover his detail. What is he working protection on?”

  “A human woman. A compromised source of mine. A phant made a direct threat to her life. It cannot be ignored.”

  “We’re not going to be able to provide twenty-four-hour protection for all of our sources,” Danton protested. “Especially not this weekend!”

  “As of yet there have been no direct threats to anyone else’s sources. We are simply being careful. Proactive,” Simone said before Rafe could get worked up. “However, this was a very specific threat. It cannot be ignored.”

  “If you say so then of course you can have use of Fallon,” Danton said. “As I said, I can move someone else into his place.”

  “Thank you. That is much appreciated,” Rafe said with no small amount of relief.

  “Well, if that is all, I will be going. There are still many finer organizational details I have to work out. The first diplomats begin arriving tonight.”

  “Very well then. We’ll talk about this again as soon as you have found a suitable human to penetrate Killean’s defenses. But for now concentrate on the diplomats and the treaty. If Draz is planning on making a move against me, we must protect everyone as best we can.”

  “Including and especially you, Simone,” Danton said. “I will double up your guard.”

  “That isn’t necessary. I’ll be swamped by people and their security details all weekend long. No one is going to be able to come near me without penetrating a wall of people first.”

  “They don’t have to get near you. They only need to aim at the back of your head,” Danton said darkly.

  Simone paled a little at that. She swallowed a bit nervously, then regained herself and held her chin high. “Then nothing you do will be able to protect me. Let’s focus on the diplomats and getting this treaty signed. And should something happen to me…Rafe, I am counting on you to see this through to the bitter end. You will carry on my work. See that it is done.”

  “Don’t talk like that, Simone. You’re going to be fine.”

  “Promise me, Rafe. Please.”

  Rafe took in Simone’s desperate plea, the way she had reached out to grasp his wrist. He covered her hand with his and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry,” he said. “This treaty is getting signed come hell or high water.”

  Provided he wasn’t censured for blabbing about them to Renee. There was still that to deal with, but he knew he didn’t have to remind Simone about it.

  “Thank you,” Simone said.

  Danton got to his feet, and left the office, leaving Simone and Rafe behind. He was still holding her hand. He gave her fingers a squeeze.

  “I suppose I ought to be going as well. I have a committee to face.”

  “Rafe, if there’s anything I can do, you know I will do it.”

  “Thank you, but I knew what I was getting myself into. All that’s required now is for Renee to prove I have placed my faith in the proper place. Actually, I should catch up to Danton. He is, after all, on the committee.”

  “Hopefully the committee will have more pressing concerns than punishing you with a tribunal.”

  “I suppose that makes this a good time to break the rules. I’ll see you later.”

  Rafe kissed her cheek and hurried out of the office.

  Chapter 13

  Renee was poring over one of her open cases when Jimmy parked his ass on her desk.

  “So you’re pretty subdued today,” he observed.

  “How so?” she asked, looking up at him. A nervous quiver jumped into her belly. Was she not acting normal? She was trying to act normal. As if she didn’t know this huge secret.

  “Yeah. Usually you’d be out pounding the streets really aggressively after we’ve caught a new case. Today you’re just looking over cases that are going cold or are almost closed.”

  “Well,” she said, tapping the file in her hand. “This is the Grovener murder. Tommy Grovener is coming in at three for an interview.”

  “So what’s to review? We already know he’s guilty. You ought to have issued a warrant for him already.”

  “It’s better this way. He comes in voluntarily, so we don’t have to chase him down. He thinks he’s going to get information out of us, when in fact we are going to get a confession out of him. And if I’m going to get that confession, I better damn well know the case inside and out. So should you. You’ll be in there with me.”

  “I already know the case by heart. And so do you. C’mon. What gives? Why aren’t we out scoping more bars or whatever? Our doer is getting farther and farther away every minute we waste.”

  “It doesn’t help the case to run around without direction. We’ll wait until we hear back from one of the bars we already went to. That one seemed like a good line.”

  “Yeah. Maybe. But shouldn’t we be interviewing the family and his work? Maybe it wasn’t a stranger at all. Maybe he knew his killer.”

  “Of course. We’ll do all of that. I just want to get this Grovener thing under our belts, then we’ll focus on our new one. Okay?”

  Jimmy seemed to think about it, taking a moment to narrow his eyes on her and scrutinize her face. “And you’re sure that’s all it is? You just want to get this one done?”

  “That’s all it is,” she assured him.

  “All right. I’ll buy it for now. But I want this guy. He did the vic in broad daylight. A guy like that doesn’t care who he hurts and he doesn’t care if he gets caught. That makes him dangerous.”

  “Tell me about it,” she said darkly.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll catch him. Hopefully before he does someone else.”

  “Yeah,” Renee said with an internal wince. “Hopefully.”

  “C’mon. It’s lunchtime. Let’s get out of here
a little while.”

  “Oh. No. I’ll eat here.” She indicated her desk.

  “C’mon. We’ll go to Mrs. Pho’s. You love pho.”

  Renee’s stomach rumbled in response to the suggestion and Jimmy chuckled. He snatched up her coat from the back of her chair and pulled her to her feet, forcing her to drop the file onto her desk.

  “No really, Jimmy. I have to stay in,” she said, Rafe’s warning resounding in her head.

  “The only thing you have to do is eat. Come on. Move it. Go.”

  Jimmy slipped her jacket onto her arms and was guiding her out of the precinct a moment later. Renee felt her stomach clench anxiously as they hit the cold outdoors.

  It should be all right, she told herself. It was daylight and the street was full of people. Then again, the phant that had killed that man had not cared that it was daylight or that there were witnesses. Was she putting Jimmy in danger? She would never be able to live with herself if something were to happen to him. He didn’t know what they could potentially be walking into. He didn’t know how to kill a phant. He didn’t even know they existed.

  Ignorance was bliss, she thought with a sigh. She wished, for a moment, that she didn’t know anything about e-vamps and their world. But the next moment she knew that she would much rather know than not. She had never been one to enjoy ignorance. She had to know. She had to know everything. It was what made her such a good detective. She never stopped until she solved her case, until every detail was revealed.

  Renee drew herself to attention. She became sharply aware of her surroundings, looking for signs that anyone was following her…or was lying in wait.

  Luckily, Mrs. Pho’s was only a short block away from the precinct. They walked into the restaurant in the middle of a large lunch crowd.

  “We should get this to go,” Renee said, trying hard not to look or sound as nervous as she felt.

  “No, look! There’s a table. Let’s go.”

  They caught the table as another couple left it and sat down before it was even cleaned up. A waitress with a calm demeanor came up and wiped down the table. She took their drink order and Renee looked anxiously around the crowded room. She realized she had no way of knowing the difference between a human versus a vampire versus a sycophant. The sycophants that had attacked them last night had reminded her a little of drug addicts with their gaunt features and poor complexions, but she didn’t know if that was normal for them, and she still wouldn’t be able to tell them apart from a human junkie.