A Bite Before Dying: Book Six Supernatural Enforcers Agency

by E A Price

  Huh, he was starting to enjoy this investigatory work. Juliet did the thinking; he did the shouting. It was perfect. “He can expect a visit from us then.”

  “That’s the plan. Though you don’t necessarily have to come if you have something better to do…”

  His tiger huffed. “I’m not going anywhere,” he rumbled. Something he would repeatedly say until it finally sunk in.

  Juliet’s fangs slowly receded. Her brilliant eyes held his, searching his expression, for what he didn’t know, but whatever she needed, whatever she wanted, he would give it to her.

  “I’m sorry about today. The baby blindsided me. I’ll always regret never having children. Generally, I don’t get near them so I can handle myself. It’s probably better I stay away from them.” Her eyes darted away from his, but he saw the pain there. “I know it’s silly. After all the years, I should be over it.”

  Ryder unfolded his arms as his beast whimpered for their mate. He caught her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. “Sweet thing, you never have to apologize for your grief.”

  “Truthfully, I’ve had a long and interesting life, done things I’d never dreamed of before, but a part of me always wishes I’d never been turned, that I’d lived a normal life.”

  He brushed his thumbs over the tears that trickled out of her eyes. His beast wanted to roar and smash something, tear something to shreds because his sweetheart was in pain, but this wasn’t something he could fix. But maybe he could spend his life making her feel just a little better?

  Juliet gently shook herself out of his grip and rubbed her cheeks with the back of her hand. She clambered off his body and retrieved the laptop that had fallen to the floor in their kerfuffle.

  She forced some cheer into her quavery voice. “We still have a couple of hours before sun up, let’s check out our victim’s financials.”

  Ryder nodded and made a lewd remark to make her feel better. She slapped his shoulder, and she did seem just a tad happier.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Juliet leafed through a copy of décor for the modern vampire – a monthly magazine with interesting tips on decorating for vampires – lead based paint and all that. She wasn’t really paying much attention; she picked it up to be a shield between her and Ryder.

  Their relationship was shifting and changing. Mere days ago he was just an annoying stalker who kept showing up and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Now, he was living in her house, he was helping her solve a case, and she was admitting things to him she would struggle to tell people she considered friends. It scared the heck out of her!

  The stick thin vampire receptionist returned and gave Juliet a chilly smile. “Mr. Petrov will be able to see you for a few minutes after his conference call ends, he won’t be long. Are you sure I can’t offer you some refreshments? I’m afraid I can only offer blood or water?” She cast a wary glance over at Ryder who was far too interested in the fish tank. Indeed, his eyes were following the fish with avid interest.

  Silly kitty Juliet thought fondly and then mentally slapped herself for being sappy.

  “We’re fine, thank you,” replied Juliet.

  While checking Carrie’s bank statements, they noticed a large amount of money was deposited in her account every month starting six months ago. It was always the same amount and came from the same company – VTI Industries. After a little digging, they eventually found that VTI Industries – Vlad the Impaler Industries – was owned by – surprise, surprise – a vampire called Alexei Petrov. Predominantly he owned a large publishing company, which virtually cornered the market on teen vampire fiction, but he also owned a number of subsidiary companies, including VTI.

  Now, they were at Alexei’s office awaiting an interview. Juliet decided talking to him was more urgent than the ex-boyfriend. But, she sent Zane to tail the ex just in case he was up to anything suspicious.

  She had to admit; she was a little worried about meeting Alexei. She’d never met him before, but she’d heard of him. He was a couple of centuries older than her, and reputedly, he could read minds. Made her vampire power seem silly.

  He was quite a well-known vampire. She wondered if he really was Carrie’s lover and if he really had been intending to mate her.

  Juliet caught Ryder looking at her, and he grinned. She looked back at her magazine and pretended to read about damson colored drapes. Vampire décor was all about dark colors and crushed velvet – sigh.

  “Mr. Petrov will see you now,” trilled the receptionist.

  Juliet nodded and moved to his office door. Ryder was behind her in an instant, his hand brushing her back, warmth and tingles spreading through her with just the briefest of touches.

  Petrov looked up briefly from his computer screen. He was a fairly handsome male, pale and lean with intense blue eyes. Though he was nothing in comparison to the dark, smoldering looks of her sabre-tooth.

  No, not hers – bad vampire!

  “Don’t dawdle in the doorway,” grumbled Petrov. “I’m due in a meeting in five minutes, that’s all the time I can spare.”

  Juliet strode through the large office, pretending she didn’t hear Ryder’s disgruntled rumbles as he noted the many mounted animal heads.

  “Mr. Petrov, I’m…”

  “I know who you are.”

  Juliet looked at him suspiciously. Had he read her mind?

  Petrov chuckled and leaned back in his chair. “I can guess what you’re thinking. My secretary gave me the card you gave her. Contrary to rumor, I don’t actually read minds.”

  “Good job,” groused Ryder, looming over Juliet’s shoulder.

  Petrov arched an eyebrow. “But one hardly needs to be a mind reader to know what’s in the mind of your pet.”

  Ryder growled and lumbered towards Petrov. For a second the vampire looked alarmed and thought Ryder was actually going to attack, but he didn’t. Well, not exactly. Under Petrov’s surprised and mildly amused stare, Ryder reached under the desk and pulled one of Petrov’s feet out, making the vampire slump in his chair.

  “What on earth are you doing?” asked Petrov, starting to get annoyed.

  Ryder ignored him and smiled triumphantly at Juliet. “Alligator skinned boots. Lina was right.”

  Yep, in spite of her fatigue, their witness Lina had described Mr. Petrov perfectly, right down to the boots.

  Petrov looked between the two of them. “One of you explain what you are doing here, right now!”

  Juliet smiled disarmingly, and she was met with two interested looks from the males facing her. Ryder noticed Petrov’s softening and dropped his foot with a snarl before jogging back to Juliet, and standing so close to her that anyone looking might think they really were connected at the hip.

  “What was your relationship to Carrie Fields?” she asked.

  Petrov didn’t bother to hide the surprise. Whatever he thought she was going to say, it wasn’t that. “What was my relationship?” he repeated slowly, his brow furrowing. “Has something happened to Carrie?”

  “So you did know her?”

  His eye twitched. “Yes, now, what is going on?”

  “How well did you know her?”

  “Where is Carrie?” he snapped.

  “Mr. Petrov…”

  Petrov leaped to his feet and moved to stand in front of Juliet so fast his motions were a mere blur. Ryder moved more slowly, but he was only a couple of seconds behind him as he moved Juliet behind him and grasped Petrov’s neck.

  “Take it easy,” rasped Ryder, his fangs lengthening.

  Juliet peeked around Ryder’s large frame and watched as Petrov slowly managed to contain himself. Shrugging out of Ryder’s grip, he took a step back and smoothed a hand over his hair.

  “Carrie is currently my main donor. I have a couple of donors at a time, but Carrie is my preferred choice.”

  “Have you not seen the news recently?”

  Petrov’s eyes flickered. “I’ve been in Paris for the last week on business. I returned e
arlier today. I don’t keep in touch with my donors when I am out of town, but it was my intention to visit Carrie tonight. Now, what is going on?”

  “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but Carrie has been murdered.”

  Juliet watched as sadness flashed through his eyes before he quickly composed himself. “I see,” he said shortly before moving to a cabinet behind his desk. He pulled out a bottle of blood and took a long swig.

  “You suspect me?” he asked flatly.

  “It’s still early in our investigation. Though if you have been in Paris for the whole week…”

  “I have. I’m sure I can provide plane tickets and witnesses to prove it.” Petrov moved to the window and stared out at the twinkling lights of the city. “Carrie was a lovely girl. Such a waste.”

  “What was the nature of your relationship with Carrie?”

  Petrov gave Juliet a wry, challenging smile. “I was paying for her accommodation and provided her with a monthly allowance, while she allowed me to feed on her. We also had sex, and we talked – she was a very lively companion. I would call that friendship, but you may call it whatever you like.”

  “Were you planning on mating Carrie? I have reason to believe you were.”

  Juliet looked at him keenly. Petrov looked shocked. Ryder just looked baffled.

  “My true mate died nearly six hundred years ago. She ran afoul of ignorant villagers who really did carry pitchforks. I have never felt compelled to mate with another female. As for Carrie, she was a shifter – I wouldn’t risk my own life never mind potentially a third of our race for a girl, no matter how lively I found her. I would not be so foolish.”

  Juliet nodded, pointedly ignoring Ryder’s inquisitive expression. She believed Petrov. She didn’t believe he was good enough of an actor to fool both her and Ryder. They would check his alibi, but honestly, she didn’t think he killed her or that he wanted to bond with her. He was definitely the vampire in her life, but the truth of their relationship appears to have been distorted, and perhaps out of hand rumors were her downfall. Other vampires might have wrongly believed Petrov was mating her and killed her in what they perceived to be self-defense. Though most vampires had very little esteem for shifter or human lives – killing one cougar would mean nothing to most.

  She ran through a few perfunctory questions – like when he last saw Carrie, if he knew if anyone wished to hurt her, if he had ever introduced her to other vampires… his answers weren’t very illuminating.

  “How did you meet Carrie?”

  “Carrie applied for an internship here. She didn’t get it, but we hit it off, and after we got to know one another, I asked her to become a donor.”

  Ryder curled his lip. “And she did? Just like that?”

  “Many think it’s an honor to be fed on by a vampire,” sneered Petrov.

  “Depends on the vampire,” muttered Ryder giving Juliet a significant look.

  “It hardly seems like she was proud of the decision – she didn’t tell any of her friends.”

  “Humph. She decided not to given her boyfriend’s reaction.”

  “Her boyfriend?”

  “Ex now.” Petrov took another sip of blood, swilling it around his mouth thoughtfully. “It was her intention for them to continue seeing one another while she was my donor, but after she informed him of her decision, he became quite belligerent, and I believe violent. I understood he had been violent with her before, but given that he is human I doubt she paid him much mind.” He checked his watch. “I really must be going now, if you have any other questions…”

  “We’ll be back,” rumbled Ryder.

  “I’m sure you will.”

  Juliet paused. “By the way, if you aren’t a mind reader, what is your power?”

  The vampire sniffed. “I can drop in on other people’s dreams.”

  The sabre-tooth sneered. “Real handy.”

  Petrov effectively dismissed them, and they made their way out the building, not saying a word until they got to the car.

  Ryder looked at her through narrowed eyes. “What was that about him mating Carrie? Were you just making it up? And what the hell did he mean about not risking his life?”

  Juliet closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. “It’s a long story and not one that I should tell you.”

  “Do it anyway.”

  Juliet’s eyes flickered open to see his confused, belligerent face. “I told you vampires and shifters aren’t supposed to mate.”

  “Yeah, ‘cause of dumb, poncy vampire rules.”

  “Because bonding with a shifter would poison the vampire and poison every other vampire in their bloodline. Mating shifters equals death for us! Do you get it? Do you get how dangerous this is?” She waved her finger between the two of them. “Bonding with you would kill me and about a third of the vampire population, okay?”

  Ryder’s eyes darkened.

  “I’m sorry, but don’t you see? We can’t be mates – we can’t be together.”

  Ryder growled. “Bullshit.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “We are not talking about this right now,” grumbled Juliet as she knocked on Kevin Fleegman’s door. Kevin was Carrie’s ex-boyfriend. Zane had made an effort to tail him, but Kevin hadn’t left his apartment.

  “Nothing to talk about,” Ryder growled.

  His tiger chuffed in agreement. There really wasn’t as far as he was concerned. They were mates – he was sure of it, so there was no way they couldn’t be together. Okay, he conceded there might be a couple of differences between them that they needed to work out – but they were meant to be. He knew it. His tiger knew it. He was pretty sure Juliet also suspected it, but she was playing hard to get. She may have been fed some garbage about how vampires and shifters couldn’t be mates, but if that were true, why was Juliet his mate? It made no sense.

  Juliet pouted in disapproval, and he itched to tweak her nose. He restrained himself. As cute as she looked when she was annoyed, now was not the time. He put his hand anywhere near her face in that moment, and he might lose a finger.

  The door wasn’t immediately opened, and Ryder banged on it more firmly. The sooner they sorted out this whole murder business, the sooner they could figure out their mating issues.

  A slight human opened the door, blinking at them with owlish eyes.

  “Sorry, I was in my dark room,” he explained in a reedy voice. “Can I help you?”

  Juliet waved her SEA badge at him, and Ryder detected a slight quickening of his heartbeat.

  “May we come in?” Juliet asked in a silky, dick hardening voice.

  Clearly, Kevin liked it too, because he eagerly stepped aside for her, less eagerly for Ryder who pushed his way past the young human male.

  His apartment was large, airy and tastefully decorated. Not at all the kind of place he would have pictured for the nerdy male in front of him.

  “Nice place,” commented Ryder.

  Kevin shuffled on his feet. “It belongs to my girlfriend.”

  Ryder snatched up a framed photo of Kevin and a large, blonde female. Judging by her golden eyes, he would wager a guess she was also a shifter. Kevin wasn’t overly big, but the female was at least six feet tall. Likely, she was a lioness. Apparently, Kevin had a thing for cats.

  His sabre-tooth chuckled. Better watch our step.

  Ryder smirked, but his mirth immediately dimmed as Juliet scowled at him. Yep, she even managed to rock a scowl. His vampire was too pretty for her own damn good. In spite of Kevin’s predilection for cats, he was certainly throwing Juliet some appreciative glances. Perhaps Ryder could persuade Juliet to wear a veil whenever she left the house…

  He was waiting for Juliet to start, but she merely rolled her shoulder at him. Apparently, she wasn’t going for the gentle approach. She was allowing him free reign.

  Fine with him. His tiger was practically rubbing his paws together in glee.

  “So why’d you kill Carrie?” he rumbled.

  “What?�
� Kevin’s eyes bulged, and he almost swooned in astonishment. “I didn’t! I didn’t! I wouldn’t!” he spluttered.

  “You were pissed at her for screwing a vampire and then after she dumped you...”

  “I dumped her!” howled Kevin who was starting to look more and more like a toad – particularly the color of his cheeks.

  “Yeah, sure.” The tiger had a good snort over that one.

  “I did!”

  “After you smacked her around?”

  Kevin started turning puce – he changed color more than a mood ring. “I didn’t mean to hit her,” he murmured shamefully. “It was in the heat of the moment.”

  “She didn’t report it,” said Juliet softly.

  “Yeah well, in retaliation she broke three of my ribs and gave me two black eyes… I was worse off than her. And like I said, it was in the heat of the moment. I loved Carrie; I would never have killed her. You should talk to that vampire she’s been boning.”

  “We did,” said Ryder impatiently. “He pointed to you.”

  “Asshole!” snapped Kevin, clenching his fists. “If I were going to hurt anyone it would be him.”

  Ryder looked at him doubtfully. His tiger huffed. He doubted Kevin could cause damage to a blow-up doll, and sincerely doubted he was physically capable of killing Carrie. Which sucked because he would have loved to see Juliet arrest the little bugger.

  Kevin rubbed his forehead. “Can’t believe Carrie was going to mate that slick bastard.”

  Juliet nearly flew across the room to stand in front of him. “Who told you that?” she demanded.

  Kevin blinked at her, taken aback by her quickness. “Answer the question,” she growled.

  “Ah, I don’t remember…”

  “Think!” snapped Juliet, her eyes flashing black.

  Kevin saw her fangs and gulped, instinctively taking a step towards Ryder.

  Huh. He’s more afraid of her than of us chuckled his beast. He wasn’t sure whether he should be proud or upset by that.

  “Joanne!” he spluttered, trying to scamper behind Ryder and hide.