A Bite Before Dying: Book Six Supernatural Enforcers Agency

by E A Price

  Zane was annoyed he hadn’t already cracked it, but she soothed him and told him to be patient. The elders were probably keen for the situation to be resolved, but they were also centuries old. They didn’t do anything particularly quickly – you never had to when you had all the time in the world.

  He had been slightly mollified and rang off with fervent promises that he would do his darnedest to find something. Except he didn’t use the word darnedest. It was to his credit that he wasn’t someone keen to drag it out and cash in on the daily payout. He was impatient and wanted it resolved immediately.

  She wasn’t entirely sure the e-mail and social media accounts would throw up anything – unless the vampire they were looking for was young it was unlikely they would use either. Most vampires were still coming to terms with telephones.

  The vampire angle wasn’t something she had divulged to Zane. The less people who knew, the better for now.

  Juliet tapped her fingers on her desk and vaguely wondered where Ryder actually was at that moment. He said close by so… perhaps he was across the street watching her building. She needed to try and get rid of him. She couldn’t take him to places she wanted to go. He was damn persistent, though. It was cute… ugh. Stop being a pushover!

  Juliet tapped her intercom and made a request to Emily. At least this may buy her a few hours.

  *

  “What the hell are you doing here? Juliet snapped at him.

  Ryder was torn between smirking and scowling. He was annoyed that he allowed her to lose him for half an hour but thrilled he found her again so quickly. He could taunt her and tell her she would have to try harder, but he was afraid she would.

  The minx had switched cars and had someone else drive her out of the SEA parking lot while she crouched in the back. He would have missed her entirely if he hadn’t paid a homeless guy to watch the parking exit and report back anything odd.

  Sneaky vampire grumbled his beast.

  He almost lost the car in traffic, but she had to stop to let out her temporary driver. Ryder caught sight of her and followed her. Apparently, she was preoccupied because she didn’t notice him on the motorbike sifting through traffic. Not his motorbike, he just borrowed it from a guy who was too busy flirting with a meter maid to notice. Should have told the guy to give it up, he was sweating and bald, and the meter maid was twenty years younger, but he just didn’t have the time.

  At that moment, he didn’t technically have a vehicle – he was currently borrowing other peoples. He really should sort out some permanent wheels. Though if his mate stopped running off on him, he could just drive her car.

  Juliet glared at him and folded her arms. “You can’t come in with me.”

  “I don’t even know where we are,” he admitted. It was an unassuming door but the shifter he scented lurking behind the door told of a bar or club.

  He thought he had scoped out pretty much all the dives in Los Lobos, but this was a new one for him.

  She took his hand and led him away. “It’s a vampire bar; you can’t come in unless… you can’t come in.”

  “Unless what?”

  Juliet’s face pinched. “Unless you are my donor.”

  His tiger perked up. “You mean…”

  “Yes, only vampires and their blood donors are allowed inside.”

  He didn’t bother to hide his excitement. “So vampires do feed on shifters.”

  “I told you some do; it’s just frowned upon.”

  “But if you stuck some fang marks in my neck and rubbed yourself all over me, they would accept me in there?”

  Juliet frowned. “Technically yes.”

  He held his arms out; his body spread eagle. “Get rubbing, babe. Don’t be afraid to be rough.”

  “You are not coming in with me. It’s dangerous for you.”

  His tiger huffed in laughter. “I am going in there. Difference is, either I walk in with you or I knock out the beauty queen on the door and charge on in – then it really will be dangerous.”

  “I will not put you at risk.”

  He grinned, and she stamped her foot. It was adorable. How she could get a reputation for being cold and scary, he would not know – but some of the SEA agents he talked to thought she was. She was too cute to be scary.

  “Knew you cared, babe, but I am not letting you go in there alone. No arguments. You have no choice.”

  Juliet gave him an almost hurt look, and he wondered at it. “I don’t much care for being told what to do or having my free will taken away from me.”

  Ryder gently placed his hands on her elbows, his tiger mewling at him to do something. He had crossed a line somehow, but he didn’t know why. “Not my intention.”

  She looked at him, long and hard, her dark, almost black eyes glittering as she appraised him. He stood waiting patiently for her to work through what she needed to. Eventually, she gave in.

  “Okay, just… try to keep your mouth shut, okay?”

  “Strong, silent type.”

  Juliet snorted. “You were when we met; now you seem intent to flap your mouth all the time.”

  His tiger chuffed with laughter. “Hey, hold the chitchat, got it. I’m your man.”

  “No, when we go in there, you’ll be my bitch.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Four hundred and fifty years ago

  “What is it?” snapped Master.

  Mary hovered at the door to his study. Since Edward’s death, he had been moody and out of sorts. Not angry – if he were angry, he would have worked out his frustration on her, most likely with a whip. No, he was upset about losing his friend and upset about losing his staff. Humans had been brought in to replace them, but he didn’t like it. He liked humans as donors and sexual partners but preferred shifters as servants.

  Master was a vampire who took, hunted and killed people from the nearby village – Mary’s village, and she had been one of them. It was a concern to him that they might try to revolt against him during the day. The wolf shifters would protect him; he wasn’t sure the humans would.

  For the last few days, he had virtually neglected Mary, and she couldn’t deny it was preferable to his usual attentions, but she was curious about what had passed. Edward was Master’s oldest friend, to kill him over a female seemed extreme.

  “Forgive me,” she started, and he turned to look at her, amusement shining in his cold eyes.

  “Have you missed my touch, my pet?”

  She tried to swallow her revulsion. “I wanted to ask you about Edward.”

  “Do not mention that ingrate’s name to me,” he snarled and returned to the papers on his desk.

  Mary quailed at his tone, considering running in the opposite direction, but if she wanted answers…

  She entered the room, moving noiselessly as she shut the door and flitted to his side, dropping to her knees and placing her hand on his thigh.

  “Master,” she purred, and he softened slightly. Fifty years trapped with him had not been completely wasted; she could softly manipulate him.

  His fingers tangled in her hair and she knew she had him.

  “What happened with the wolf shifter? Why was it so horrible that…”

  “You ask questions about matters that you do not understand.”

  “Please, Master,” she persisted, wary of the danger of pushing him, “make me understand. Am I not a vampire? Is this not a matter I should know of?”

  Master exploded, leaping to his feet, knocking her aside. “Is it not enough that I take care of you? That I gave you the gift of extended life? That I protect you from the world?”

  Mary scrambled to her knees. “I am sorry, Master, but am I not loyal to you above everyone?”

  He frowned at her. “Above everyone?”

  “Clearly Edward betrayed you, and though you tell them not to, Marguerite tries to take your donors, and Rodrigo still pursues me. I fight him off to ensure that never happens. You would not have me touched by anyone else, and I will not let them.” For her
benefit rather than his, but he could take that how he liked.

  His glare lessened marginally. “Indeed, only once have I been disappointed in you.” He was referring to her ill-fated escape attempt. “But I forgive you because you were young.”

  He gave her an almost fond look, and her hatred grew in leaps and bounds.

  “Thank you, Master,” she murmured.

  “You are right, or rather I was right in choosing to turn you.”

  Always so modest she thought bitterly.

  “It is not a decision I have ever regretted,” he said. “Having to kill you before you aged and ruined my memory of your beauty would have been too painful. I do not change humans lightly.”

  She nodded, feeling nauseous. He believed he had done her a great favor, believed her life would have been worthless if she had never become a vampire. She wished she could vomit.

  He sat back down and patted his leg. She climbed up to sit on his lap. One of his hands clasped the flesh of her ass while the other worked to untie the top of her dress.

  “Vampires and shifters may not mate,” he explained.

  “It is the law?” Mary asked, ignoring his wandering hands. Sadly, she was used to them by now.

  He chuckled indulgently. “Such an inquisitive little thing. Yes, it is a law of our people. We do not have many laws, but we must stick to them in order to retain our civility and keep ourselves above the cattle.”

  Cattle meaning humans. Lord how she hated him!

  “But vampires think nothing of mating with and turning... cattle.” The last word didn’t want to leave her lips.

  Master grunted. “Humans are no threat – all vampires were human once no matter how much we try to forget it. But mating with a shifter would be dangerous.”

  “Because it is against the law?”

  “It is against our laws because it is dangerous. First and foremost, bonding is a magical act between two living creatures, and it changes the two creatures who bond. But there is something in filthy shifter blood that is deadly to a vampire when they bond.”

  But Master killed Edward anyway. “So bonding would kill the vampire?”

  “Not just that vampire – it would kill all the vampires in their bloodline. All those they had changed, the one who changed them, and the one who changed them leading all the way back to one of the first vampires - meaning one of my brothers or me. Do you know how I know this? Because it happened to one of my brothers. Alexsander died after he attempted mating with a wolf shifter. He was barely two hundred years old – my mother still mourns him. Alexsander died, all the vampires he turned died and his wolf shifter whore turned feral and had to be executed. That is why none of us will ever be allowed to mate a shifter. To put it bluntly, if one vampire bonded with a shifter, it would mean death for one-third of the vampire population.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Present day

  Juliet should have left his shirt on. That many acres of hard naked chest was doing something funny to her, not to mention the reaction he was getting from the other females in the club. Yeah, real conspicuous.

  A preliminary sniff told her most of the donors in residence were humans – to be expected, but there were one or two witches and even a wizard. No other shifters. Great, she was the only one sporting a six-foot-ten beast. No way could anyone fail to notice her.

  But then, maybe this could work to her advantage. It would certainly get her noticed, and maybe incite the ire of vampires who were completely against shifters and vampires interacting.

  Having a shifter donor was not illegal to her kind, but it was frowned on. The fear was that having a donor might lead to the urge to bond, but there was nothing to say that anyone couldn’t feed on a shifter now and then.

  This club was a little more traditional than other clubs, no vampire in here was under four hundred years old. Younger vampires didn’t tend to hang around the older vamps. It would be like a twenty-year-old partying with a fifty year old – not entirely unheard of, but not the norm.

  Ryder appeared to be walking neck forward – as unlikely as it sounded, somehow he managed to push it out in front of him, displaying it for all to see.

  With many reservations, Juliet had pressed her fangs into his neck, giving him a mark to show he belonged to her, that she was currently feeding on him. She had also rubbed herself over him to give him some of her scent – only using her arm, though. She declined the offer of a full body rub; she was aroused enough just by the arm contact.

  She had then divested him of his shirt, knowing that most play toys in the club would be half-naked, and had then slipped into a pair of heels and pulled her sweater off. Jeans weren’t usually dressy enough for the club, but she knew she wouldn’t be denied entrance. While she wasn’t exactly a regular, she knew the owner of the club.

  After a few moments, leading Ryder through the club by his hand, she realized her fears about the other patrons’ reactions being angry were ill founded. No, male and female vampires alike were having completely the opposite reaction to his presence, the already heavily desire laden atmosphere intensified on his entrance.

  They liked him. No, they found him attractive. No, they wanted his body, wanted his blood. Grrr.

  A couple of females actually reached out to stroke him, their greedy hands groping at him. Juliet snarled at them and snatched him away.

  Maybe she didn’t want him, and he wasn’t her real donor, but they didn’t know that. Them trying to touch him at all was insulting!

  “Juliet, is that you?” came a sultry voice. One she recognized, unfortunately.

  She was tempted to say no and haul Ryder in the opposite direction, but she did want information. Dragging her heels, Juliet approached the owner of the voice.

  “Hello Honor,” said Juliet with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

  Lady Honor de Valle was sprawled on a chaise lounge, two shirtless human males surrounding her, fresh bite marks on their necks and sycophantic expressions on their faces. Honor eyed her closely. Juliet rarely came to the club and Honor abhorred any female vampire – seeing them all as competition.

  “He’s a bold choice, Juliet darling,” trilled Honor glancing at Ryder. “He looks positively primal.” She licked her lips and ran a fingernail down one of her donor’s chests.

  “You have no idea,” muttered Juliet.

  Ryder rumbled, and Juliet squeezed his hand to keep him quiet. Or maybe to remind herself that he was hers… sort of. Now if she could find a way to scrape Honor’s pervy gaze off of him, she might actually be described as happy.

  She’d only known Honor for about ten years – very little for vampires. But ten years was already far too long. The woman was dreadful and probably not a real lady either. In fact, Juliet heard a rumor she was a scullery maid back when she was alive. But the vampiress gave herself airs. She had also spent most of the nineteenth century bathing in virgins’ blood because she believed it kept her skin looking fresh and young. She didn’t anymore. Or at least, Juliet hoped she didn’t. It took a lot of virgins to fill a bath with blood. Or so she imagined; Juliet had no experience in the matter.

  “Are you sure you’re vampire enough to handle him?” sneered Honor.

  Ryder rumbled again, but Juliet didn’t bother trying to hush him. At least she knew he didn’t like Honor’s smarmy attentions either. Although his consternation might be because of the interested looks she was garnering from one of Honor’s donors. The male looked like he wouldn’t mind a nibble from Juliet, and she imagined Ryder didn’t much care for the competition. In fact, the sounds coming out of Ryder’s chest indicated that he wouldn’t mind punching the guy’s teeth out. She was glad for his restraint. Though it came at the cost of him draping his free arm liberally around her and plastering her to his chest. Every movement, every breath he took vibrated through her.

  “What are we looking for exactly?” he whispered into her ear.

  “If you weren’t too busy making jokes about me rubbing myself a
ll over you outside, I might have told you,” she chastised. “For now, just stay quiet.”

  Ryder didn’t like it, but he did.

  After ignoring some more barbs from Honor, Juliet found her real quarry. Arturo. One of the oldest vampires she knew. Or at least, still knew. They’d crossed paths three hundred years ago when Juliet was in Asia. For a while, they had traveled together. Not as lovers despite his many overtures, but as friends, or at least as close to friends as anyone could be with a bloodsucking fiend like him.

  This was his club, one of many he owned throughout the world. He liked to have somewhere to go and socialize with other vampires in every place he lived. He had about a dozen houses in various countries throughout the world, which was not unusual for older vampires. Juliet didn’t, but then her job in Los Lobos kept her grounded.

  Juliet growled as she noticed a male vampire had started stroking Ryder’s stomach, getting perilously close to his groin.

  She bared her fangs and snatched Ryder away. “Mine,” she hissed. The male, a portly man who appeared to have died middle-aged, backed off, smiling sardonically.

  “Watch yourself in here,” she grumbled, still surprised that Ryder didn’t try and stop the vampire himself. Perhaps the power of the vampires was too much for him, perhaps he was in awe of them and perhaps… her thoughts died as she saw the smug expression on Ryder’s face. Yeah, he wasn’t in awe of anyone.

  He leaned down, his lips perilously close to her ear. “Why watch my ass when you’ll do it for me, sweet thing?”

  Juliet groaned inwardly. He was enjoying himself. Not enjoying all the other vampires salivating over him, no, he was enjoying her possessiveness and lord, she couldn’t help herself. Seeing their beady eyes on him ignited something best left hidden.

  Arturo was talking to a couple of vampires, but when he noticed her, he moved to greet her.