by Tanith Frost
Daniel twists his fingers in the back of my hair, pulling gently downward, and I look up at him. “Anything else?”
“No. I’m done. I’m sorry I didn’t get anything you didn’t know.”
He brushes his thumb across my cheekbone, wiping away the residue of the tears I’d already forgotten about.
“We did learn something, though,” he says. “About you. I can tell you that nothing you pick up at scenes will be accepted as evidence. Ever. No matter how you prove yourself at times like this.” He sounds regretful. “Empathy might as well be a sin for a vampire, if we had such a thing. It’s an aspect of light, and not trustworthy.”
“I remember. I’m not sorry about it, though.”
“Nor am I.” He holds my gaze again. God, his eyes are hypnotic. “Your gift is powerful, and highly suspect. I’d suggest keeping it between us, at least for now. But you can use it. Take what you learn with it, find real evidence and answers, use it in the moment on hunts and never feel that you have to explain your intuitions. You don’t owe answers to anyone.” He smiles again, warm and wide. “I’m proud of you. You’re going to go far.”
“Will you come with me?”
His smile falters. “As long as you need me, I suppose.”
The moment is gone. His hand falls from my cheek, and he leads the way up the stairs.
I knew it was too much as soon as I said it.
We look through the rest of the house, but I’m either too tired or too disengaged to learn anything from what I see. The killings didn’t happen up here, and knowing more about the victims doesn’t help me. I almost trip over a stray Converse high top on the way out the door, and am too exhausted to wonder who it might have belonged to.
The sun has set, and a glorious, clear nighttime greets us.
As does a dark form leaning against Daniel’s car.
Daniel and I freeze at the same moment as we step out onto the low back deck.
Daniel clears his throat. “Christopher.”
I grit my teeth. Katya’s goon. She may not be guilty, but she sure has a way of showing up everywhere I don’t need to see her.
He pushes off from the car and takes one long step toward us, bald head shining in the moonlight.
“Fine evening for a continuing investigation,” he observes.
“It is. Can we help you?” Daniel’s tone gives nothing away.
“Just checking up on something for Katya. Think I got what I wanted, but I thought I’d wait to say hello.”
“Very good.” Daniel doesn’t move, and neither do I. As far as I know, we have as much of a right to be here as anyone. Christopher might be irritating, but he’s not going to hurt us.
He stretches his beefy arms out in front of him, cracking his knuckles, and walks down the driveway without another word. A moment later a car starts down the street, far enough away that we couldn’t have heard its approach from inside the house.
Daniel’s shoulders relax, and I force mine to do the same.
“What the hell was that?” I ask as we climb into the car.
“He’s a fucking asshole is what that was.” Daniel sighs. “We’ve had disagreements in the past. Nothing that would make him overstep and come after me. Let’s go to the club, shall we?”
That thought is nearly enough to drive Christopher from my mind, though I can’t help wondering what it was that Katya wanted. The malice I felt from her at the last scene returns to my mind and washes down my spine, hot and sharp. She knows I don’t like her. Maybe she knows what I suspected back there. And whether I’m right or wrong, that puts me in a bad position.
I’m about to ask whether she said anything about my absence here last night when Daniel speaks. “What’s their next move, Aviva?”
“Sorry?” I think for a moment that he’s talking about Katya and Christopher, but realize that’s wrong. “You mean the rogues?”
“Precisely. They’re mean, but that’s no surprise. They’re getting what they want by torturing and killing, but there’s more. They’ve gone from quiet killings and leaving the evidence for us to find to going after kids whose parents will not take no for an answer when they report this to the police. Our connections will mean nothing at that point. Not now that the parents can take this to the media. Or social media.” He grimaces. We might not use it ourselves, but we’re aware how quickly humans can spread ideas, unfiltered and unchecked news, and dangerous truths.I’ve heard that we have vampires working to counter reports about the supernatural, but we can’t control what the living post in a case like this.
I have no idea what’s next based on what I’ve seen of the rogues at the scenes. As far as I can tell they’re just enjoying the moment. They won’t kill in public. They’re too careful about evidence for me to think that any of them will risk being caught in the act. On the other hand, leaving bodies out for all to see doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility.
But why?
Daniel has started the car, but he hasn’t backed out of the driveway yet. He’s staring into the yard, thinking. “It’s like they want us to get found out,” he says. “They’re testing us, undermining Miranda, showing us our weaknesses.”
So what comes next? It seems like we can cover almost anything up, though more bodies will make that hard, and I have no doubt these rogues are laughing at whoever has to deal with this shit. But as long as people have their stories, their mental images of vampires as fictional, they won’t believe—
I sit up straight and grab Daniel’s arm. “The stock. The next logical step is to go after them.”
His muscles tense under my grip, but he waits for me to go on.
My thoughts are murky, but this is obvious. “The rogues don’t need to do this, they want to. Which means they see something wrong with the way we do things. They either don’t like the current clan system, or they want to…” Shit. I can’t think clearly. “I need to feed. But it makes sense, right? If they want panic, if they want to undermine what the elders have built, what better way than to threaten the only living humans who know what we really are?”
Daniel puts the car in reverse, and we’re on our way.
Our stock might not consciously think about us between visits. I’m told they tend not to, until the craving gets bad. Even without their memories cleared, things can be hard for them to remember until they’ve come to us several times. But they know. They expect us to protect them. If we can’t, it all goes to hell.
And I think that’s exactly where these rogues want us.
We pass a police car on its way into the neighbourhood as we’re leaving. No lights, no sirens, but maybe someone checking up on a kid who hasn’t been answering messages from absent parents. Probably thinking she’s wasting her time, but glad she doesn’t have anything more pressing to attend to.
I wonder whether she’ll go into the house, find something we missed that tips her off. Even if she doesn’t, her life is about to become very complicated.
I know the feeling.
15
The Inferno is busy tonight, and the stock seem nervous. It’s not anything overt, but thin tension runs through the crowd, and they’re all seeking company that will relax them when they get the poison they so desperately want. I suspect it’s not that they’ve somehow become aware of the killings, but that they’re picking up on the tight expressions and distracted glances of the vampires. There are a lot of us here. Everyone is working hard, and we all need to feed when we can.
Daniel speaks to the bartender, a pretty vampire with red-gold hair, then returns to me. “I’m going to talk to Miranda, let her know what you thought about the stock. I don’t know whether the rogues will be that bold, but we’ll ensure that everyone is taken care of. The bar is wide open for anyone working on the case. Go feed. You look like shit.”
He winks at me and takes off. He’s not looking much better than I am, though he still appears stronger, more powerful, and way more beautiful than any of the living humans here tonight. I watch h
im disappear through the doorway that leads to the back rooms, then turn my attention to the selection of vials behind the bar.
He’ll handle this. Miranda will listen to him more than she would to me, and I’m grateful for a few extra minutes to feed.
I choose a vial of light violet liquid that feels promising and search the crowd for someone willing and interested. I don’t have to look for long. A young woman with thick black hair raises her eyebrows at me, questioning. I hold my vial up, and she approaches without hesitation.
“Hey!”
A familiar grip takes hold of my shoulder and spins me around. Trixie pulls me into an enthusiastic embrace that leaves me staggering when she lets go. Between my hunger, the lights in here, and Trixie’s affectionate attack, I’m getting dizzy. I hold up a finger to my chosen stock to tell her to wait, and she halts in the middle of the floor.
“I miss you so much already,” Trixie says, pouting and twirling her pink hair around a finger. “You should come join us. I’m learning so much from Katya.” She looks back over her shoulder and scans the crowd. “Not that there’s anything wrong with Daniel, but you’re as ready for a new teacher as I am, you know?” She’s speaking quickly, full of energy I wish I had. She tilts her head. “He’s not being too hard on you now that you’re his sole target, is he?”
My disorganized mind shifts back to the other day, remembering exactly how hard he was on me, and in spite of my exhaustion warm energy stirs low in my belly. “He’s been fine. We’re still making progress on my issues.”
I’m so hungry I can hardly string a sentence together. My perceptions at that house really drained me. I just want to go. My victim, who’s growing more desirable by the second, tilts her head to one side, exposing her throat to me. Flirting.
“Have you eaten?” I ask Trixie.
“I’m good,” she says, grinning.
Obviously. I don’t know who she fed from, but she looks incredible. Strong, happy, and healthier than I’ve seen her in a long time. Maybe ever. She looks like I felt the other day with Daniel. “Your new position seems to be agreeing with you.”
“So much. Katya’s tough, but like I said, so great. I think she’d like to have you with us.”
“Really?” That seems so wrong, given what I know about her.
My prey trails long, red nails over her throat and shoots a longing look at another vampire. I clench my teeth. It’s all I can do not to abandon Trixie and tackle my victim right here on the dance floor.
“Really. She said you seemed to be picking things up at the scene the other day. Seemed disappointed that you weren’t there last night. But…” She frowns and pouts at the same time, an exaggerated expression that’s not out of place on her pretty face. “Are you over what you were thinking before, about her being involved in this?”
“Yeah, yeah.” I’m barely listening to Trixie now. Nothing she’s saying matters. “We’re good.”
“Oh, awesome. Anyway, Katya said they found some evidence back at the scene tonight, so maybe we’ll be hunting soon. Do think about coming with us, okay? We’d make a great team.”
“Sure. I gotta go.”
Trixie glances at the woman I can’t take my eyes off of and laughs. “Have fun. We’ll talk later.”
As soon as I’m free, my prey sashays toward me, hips swaying. She’s wearing a tight skirt and a sweater that shows off her stomach. She holds up a glass of white wine, and I pour my vial into it.
“Never tried this one,” she says, and sips. She giggles. “Oh, wow. That’s strong.” Her eyes widen, and she glances over her shoulder. “I feel like a butterfly. Am I?”
“If you want to be.”
I lead her toward one of the curtained alcoves at the back of the room. A flash of silver-white hair catches my eye, and I slow.
Kayta smiles at me and raises a glass of whatever she’s drinking. I nod and try to open myself, but I don’t have much energy left to feel her. She looks happy enough. Smug, maybe. Must have had a good meal.
My companion steps up close beside me and strokes her hand down my arm, making circles on the soft fabric of my sweater. “This is nice. Are we goin’?”
We are. She seats herself on a velvet bench. She’s not new at this like the young man I had Easter Sunday, but that’s fine. The experienced ones can be just as good if they’ve had time to recharge. Not as bright and full of life, but they know what to expect. Which is perfect, since I’m in no mood to tease her or myself tonight.
She giggles and sips her drink again as I pull the curtains closed. “I never did this with a girl one of you before,” she says, rolling her head back to lean against the wall. “Think I’ll like it?”
“Only one way to find out.” I run my fingers through her dark tresses. She tenses, but only for a moment. Then she sighs and leans into my touch, uncrossing her legs and setting her drink aside. Her scent fills the air. She knows what to expect, anticipates the unique pleasure I can bring her.
I trail a fingernail over her throat as I sit next to her, following the path she showed me out on the floor. She shifts closer to me on the bench, leaning her shoulders in, pulling the neckline of her sweater further down. Her shiver is pure delight as I lean in and wrap an arm around her sturdy waist. When I trace my tongue across the throbbing vein at her throat, she reaches up to tangle her fingers in my hair, trying to pull me closer.
She’s overstepping, as they tend to do when the craving is bad.
Her skin is delicate, and offers hardly any resistance to my fangs. She moans softly. “There it is,” she sighs.
There it is, I silently agree as her hot blood pulses into my mouth. I wrap one hand around her throat and squeeze, and she gasps as she lets go of my hair. I let my hand drop, trailing over the curves that fill her sweater. She’s feeling good. Euphoric from what I put in her drink, excited about this feeding and my touch. I don’t need any special gift to feel it. It’s all coming to me in her blood. She leans harder against me, shifting as far as she can with my mouth clamped to her neck, and a violent shudder passes through her.
The euphoria is amusing me, but it’s not what I came for. The strength is what I want, and it infuses every part of my mind and body as I take her life into myself, bringing clarity and focus where it was missing before. My thoughts are scattered puzzle pieces snapping into their proper places, but all I can think about is her.
It’s hard to stop, just as it was with my young man, just as it always is to some degree. Her breathing grows shallow and I draw back, licking away what flows from her wounds. A moment of irrational rage passes through me, disappearing as quickly as it comes. I get this feeling sometimes at the end of a good feeding, like there’s something more just around the corner that I’m stopping short of. This is good. Amazing. But the dark void within me screams for whatever peak of existence lies beyond stopping.
I pull away. The feeling will fade. It always does.
She claps a handkerchief to her neck. It won’t take long for the bleeding to stop. She shivers again and smiles. Her eyes are unfocused and full of wonder. “Thank you,” she whispers. “I think I’m just gonna stay here for a bit.”
Daniel is nowhere to be found when I emerge. I ask the bartender whether she’s seen him.
She nods toward an alcove not far from mine. “He seemed famished. I don’t say he’ll be long, now.”
She’s right. He emerges a minute later and immediately fixes his eyes on me. He heads for a dark corner, and I follow. As soon as we’re out of direct view of the rest of the club, he steps up behind me, letting me feel exactly how good his feeding was.
“Nice of you to save that for me,” I murmur over my shoulder, and he chuckles against my ear.
“Shall we get out of here?” He trails a hand over the front of my sweater.
“Stock are safe?”
“Miranda has it under control. We’re off duty for now. Let’s go home.”
I doubt we’ll make it that far. I feel blood-drunk, coursing wit
h strength and life and the euphoric bliss I induced in my prey even before I gave her what she really wanted. My body is as alive as it can feel from a feeding, and I’m desperate for more. I want Daniel, here, now, filling me and pushing me closer to that unimaginable height that seemed so close just a few minutes ago. The deep throbbing between my legs isn’t going to let me ignore it until I’m satisfied.
The stock are fine. Trixie is safe and happy. The world can go on without us for a while.
We hurry up the stairs and out the door, into the shadows of the alley. Daniel pushes me into a dark corner and against the wall, and the world becomes a blur of frenzied kisses and nips, his hands sliding up under my sweater, mine fumbling at his belt. We’re definitely not going to make it home. This is stupid, reckless. I know that we should stop, that he should know better and so should I, but I don’t care.
He freezes, snarls in my ear, and steps back, straightening his clothes. I do the same, unsure what’s happening until I regain my composure and sense the power that has exited the club and is approaching us. Two pairs of footsteps. No attempt to hide. I guess I should be glad of that.
“Good evening, Katya,” Daniel says, voice husky, sounding maybe half as irritated as I suspect he actually is. “Christopher.”
Katya gives us a slow grin and comes to a stop just out of arm’s reach. Her friend leaves us less space. Daniel takes a half step forward, halting Christopher’s approach. “What can we do for you?”
Katya fixes her eyes on me. That air of satisfaction hasn’t left her, but it feels far less benign now that I realize it has something to do with me. The malice I felt from her before swirls through her power now, bright and predatory. She’s a cat toying with her prey, and I have no idea what I’ve done.
My conversation with Trixie comes back to me. Are you over what you were thinking before, about her being involved in this?
