“This is Clarence Collins,” came a male voice with an English accent. “We’re right outside.”
He exhaled a sigh of relief. The Directive was here. At least if someone had taken Charlie, they could help him find her. “I’ll let you up.”
He went to the front door and hit the buzzer to allow them into the flat. He opened the front door, peering into the hallway and waiting for them to make their way up. His sharp hearing picked up their footfalls as they ascended the two flights of stairs.
Clarence led the way. A tall man with a slim build, his brown eyes darted around the place, instantly taking in every detail of his surroundings, looking out for any potential threat. Behind him came the head of The Directive, Magno Zara, and bringing up the rear was the female werewolf, Jana Noskova.
“Thank you for coming,” Ivan said, gesturing for them to enter the flat.
They walked through, and Ivan shut the door behind them. They seemed too big for the place. Though Magno Zara was a short man, far shorter than Ivan, he gave off an aura of power that made him appear far larger. He ruled the supernatural world with a ruthless idea of good and bad, and if he thought someone out there was putting their kind in danger, he’d kill without a second thought.
The wolf shifter, Jana, was Magno’s second-in-command. She also came from Europe and looked every part her Czech heritage with her blonde hair and dark-blue eyes. Her height and colouring reminded Ivan of Charlie, but that was where the resemblance ended. Jana was a dangerous wolf and wouldn’t hesitate if Magno told her to take someone out.
All three of them, standing in this small Devon flat, gave the impression of being completely out of place—like kings who’d been plucked out of a palace and deposited in a shack somewhere. They glanced around, as though unsure where to place themselves.
“Where is your Bloodmate?” Magno asked, not bothering with any introductions. “I can tell there is no one else here.”
Ivan bit his lower lip. “That, I’m unsure of. She was here when I went to sleep but gone when I woke.”
“Do you detect that she’s in danger?” Jana asked.
He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I haven’t picked up any kind of fear from her, but I’m not even sure if we’re joined that way.”
“Possibly not,” she said, “but it is possible for Bloodmates to detect these things about each other. Like twins who can tell when one of them is sick or hurt, even when they’re not together.”
He nodded. “She’s been able to pick up things about me. She’s kind of ... looked into me.” He didn’t know how else to describe it.
Magno took over again. “And you say she’s human?”
“Yes, fully, as far as I’m aware.”
The ancient Italian vampire paced the floor, his hands clasped behind his back. “We need to know exactly what has happened. Every moment, from the time you first detected The Thirst coming on, to this moment now.”
Ivan nodded and filled them in. “I’m annoyed with myself that I didn’t realise what was happening when I was back in London,” he said when he’d finished. “I should have, after seeing the same thing happen with Nikolai.”
“The Thirst works with our natural vampire instincts,” said Clarence. “We all know how it feels to have that hunger for blood and sex, and it starts slowly, so the vampire isn’t always able to distinguish between the affliction and how they would normally feel.”
Ivan appreciated his support. “Thank you. I just wish I’d picked up on it sooner.”
“It might not have changed events if you had.”
“I could have got help. I might not have hurt someone.”
Magno lifted a hand, cutting him off. “First of all, I don’t want to hear you speak like that again. You’re acting guilty, when you don’t even know you were the one responsible. We’re here to make sure no one else gets hurt, of course, but we’re also here to protect you and the rest of the vampire population. If word gets around that a vampire has lost it and gone on a rampage, then that looks bad for the rest of us as well. I’m not going to have other vampires affected, especially when we don’t even know for sure that the death was caused by you.”
Ivan wasn’t used to being admonished, and he bowed his head. “You’re right. My apologies. I hadn’t considered the bigger picture.”
“It’s important that we do. With all these Thirst cases recently, there’s a chance someone might use it against vampires. If one of the other supernatural species decided it was a good enough reason to start a hate campaign against our kind, they could make things very difficult for us.”
Ivan couldn’t help flicking his gaze to the tall werewolf, Jana. “You have other supernaturals than just vampires in The Directive. Wouldn’t they be able to put a stop to things if they looked like they were headed in that direction?”
Jana spoke, her accent making her words sharp. “We would do everything we could, of course, but not everything is within our control.”
His mobile phone rang, causing them all to turn towards the sound. Ivan had left the phone in the bedroom, and he quickly located the handset. To his surprise, Charlie’s name appeared on the screen. She must have taken his number while he was sleeping and programmed her own number in. He swiped the screen to answer. He didn’t need to place the phone to his ear to hear what was being said, but he’d need to have his mouth near so she could hear him speak.
“Hello?”
“Ivan, it’s Charlie.”
The tightness that had existed in the centre of his chest since he’d woken up and found her gone released at the sound of her voice. “What the hell, Charlie. I thought something terrible might have happened to you.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to just leave like that but I needed to come into work. There have been some ... developments.”
“There are developments here, too. The Directive have arrived.”
“Good, because we’re going to need them. There’s been another death. Another young man, killed in exactly the same way as the last one.”
Despite the death, he slumped with relief. There was no way he was responsible for that killing. He hadn’t had any blackouts, and he’d been asleep the whole time. And if he hadn’t killed that person, it was highly unlikely he’d been responsible for the first death either.
Charlie hadn’t finished. “There’s something else.”
The tightness in his chest instantly returned. “Tell me.”
“The blood on your shirt matches the first man who was killed.”
If he breathed like a regular human, he was pretty sure he would have expelled all the air from his lungs. “What?”
He glanced over at the three members of The Directive, who were all standing nearby. Able to hear every word that was being said by both him and Charlie, they watched him with matching stern expressions.
“It’s true,” she continued. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
“So there’s a strong possibility I was the one who killed him?”
“If there hadn’t been another killing, I would be sending a team to arrest you for murder right now, but with this new development, I’m not sure what the answer is.”
Magno made gestures and mouthed, “We’re going there,” at him.
“I think we’re coming to you. The Directive need to see the body and the evidence to help figure out what’s going on. If this is paranormal, this is their jurisdiction now.”
He heard her exhale. “Yes, okay. Some fresh eyes on this would be good. There are still no witnesses, and now we have conflicting evidence. Right now, you’re our only lead, and I can’t say I’m happy about it.”
“That makes two of us,” he agreed.
She gave him the exact location, and then they hung up. Ivan turned to the members of The Directive, who were still watching him. He threw his hands up in the air helplessly. “I have no idea what’s going on.”
Magno pressed his lips together. “Then let’s go and find out.”
&
nbsp; Chapter 13
Charlie watched the headlights of the car approaching, mixed emotions churning in her stomach. She wanted to see Ivan again but she couldn’t ignore the overwhelming evidence that he was responsible for the first man’s death. She was nervous about meeting the members of The Directive, too. She wasn’t normally someone who was intimidated by others, but the idea of meeting two ancient vampires and a werewolf was unnerving.
Above her head, the almost full moon hung heavy in the sky. One by one, the stars had revealed themselves and then she’d known Ivan would be awake and she would be able to call him. Though it was dark, it was easy to make out the surrounding moorlands and the tors towering into the night sky on the horizon. The hustle of extra vehicles and people at this time of night hadn’t scared off the Dartmoor ponies, and they stood around, perhaps hoping for extra snacks like they scavenged from the tourists who so often visited the moors.
The area surrounding the body had been cordoned off. A tent had been erected around the body to hide it from prying eyes and protect any evidence.
The approaching car pulled over into a small lay-by a little way off.
Charlie stood with her shoulders tensed as all four of the doors opened and figures stepped out. She spotted Ivan right away, and her heart lurched. A part of her wanted to rush over and throw her arms around him and beg him to tell her that it wasn’t true, that there must have been some kind of mistake, and he could explain it all. But the police officer in her held herself back, and she clenched her fists at her sides instead.
The four people approached, and she caught Ivan’s eye. He held it, and she saw the pain and confusion there and knew he felt the same way she did.
“Charlie ...” he said.
“Hello, Ivan.”
He introduced each of them. “This is the head of The Directive, Magno Zara, his second-in-command, Jana Noskova, and their lead investigator, Clarence Collins.” Charlie shook hands with each of them in turn, then she turned to introduce her own colleague. “And this is Constable Stephen Farnham.”
Stephen shook each of their hands, but the slightly confused expression never quite left his face. She knew he was as out of his depth dealing with all of this as she was. Now it seemed they had a killer on the moors, rather than just a wild animal, and they’d have to get the local CID in. Charlie didn’t know how happy they’d be discovering they’d have to work alongside werewolves and vampires either.
The shorter vampire with olive skin turned his attention back to her. “We have reason to believe the perpetrator is something supernatural, which means this is our jurisdiction now.”
Charlie put her hands on her hips. “No way. You don’t get to come in and take this over. I appreciate your help, but this is our turf.”
Ivan stepped forward. “I’m sure there’s a way everyone can work together.”
Magno Zara didn’t even glance at him. “You might find it difficult to be impartial with Ivan being your Bloodmate.”
She didn’t miss the way Stephen’s head snapped towards her, his eyes widening. She doubted he’d ever heard the term, but she thought he could probably figure out what it meant.
“I wouldn’t let anything get in the way of me doing my job.”
Jana Noskova’s eyebrows lifted. “Were you thinking of your job when you slept together?”
“I didn’t say a word.” Ivan held up both hands in defence.
“He didn’t need to,” the blonde continued. “I could smell sex on the air the moment I walked into the flat.”
Charlie’s cheeks flared with heat at the idea of her flat stinking of sex. If the woman had picked up on it, it was guaranteed the other two had as well.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” Magno said. “Sex is the number two way for Bloodmates to forge their lasting bond.”
“What’s the number one way?” she asked, almost wishing she’d kept her mouth shut.
The corner of the vampire’s mouth curled. It was an expression she thought he didn’t muster very often. “By the vampire feeding from you, of course.”
Automatically, her hand went to her throat. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t thought about it—there was no way someone could be with a vampire without thinking about the way they fed—but having it spoken out loud made it feel all the more real.
“It’s okay,” Ivan said from beside her. “You know we’d only ever do that when you were ready.”
“It might not happen at all if we discover Ivan is the killer,” Clarence pointed out. “And on that note, I believe we should see the body now.”
Charlie nodded, glad to have the conversation turned away from her sex life. She gestured to the tent covering the body. “This way.”
They tramped over to the tent and pushed their way inside. The small space quickly became crowded with so many people, but she wasn’t about to allow The Directive in unsupervised. They were vampires and werewolves, after all, and she didn’t know how much she could trust them. Would they tamper with evidence to protect one of their own?
Magno Zara frowned down at the body, his finger crooked against his lips. “I’d be extremely surprised if that was done by a vampire. Look at the blood on the ground. A vampire would never waste so much blood.”
“A vampire in a rage might, though?” Charlie suggested. “They’re strong enough to rip out a throat, if they wanted to.”
“Yes, of course, but—”
“So it is possible,” Charlie interrupted. “We can’t rule out a vampire.”
He put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “No, we can’t.”
“Which means Ivan is still a suspect.”
Ivan turned to her. “I was with you all of today when the second murder happened.”
She hated that she was challenging him, but she wouldn’t have been doing her job if she didn’t. “We assume you were. I was exhausted and sound asleep. You suffer blackouts. You might have sneaked out while I was sleeping.”
He shook his head again, insistent. “No, I couldn’t have. I can’t walk in the sun. The moment I stepped out of the door, I’d have been fried.”
Magno nodded. “He has a point.”
“But what about the blood all over his shirt? It matches the previous victim.”
“Ivan,” the taller vampire, Clarence, said. “When have you ever fed and covered yourself in your victim’s blood?”
“Well, I haven’t fed from an unwilling victim since I was first turned, and assuming The Thirst took me back to how I was back then …” He rubbed his hand over his lips and gazed into the distance as he remembered. “No, even then it was very clean. I might have spilled a couple of drops, but that was all. I’d never have covered my whole face and hands and chest in it. Why would I when all I’d ever want to do with blood is drink it?”
Clarence nodded. “That’s my point exactly.”
“So, you think the blood got there by some other means? Someone else put it there when I was blacked out?”
“I think that’s a possibility.”
“But that would mean someone is trying to set me up for the deaths of these men. Who would do that? And why? None of it makes sense.”
“It does if we consider the possibility that they are doing a smear campaign on vampires and using The Thirst to show how vampires are now no longer in control of their natural urges.”
Ivan frowned in confusion. “I don’t know … Maybe that’s it.”
“But there’s been nothing public,” Charlie interrupted. She wanted to clutch to the possibility that Ivan was innocent but she didn’t want to do so blindly. All possibilities needed to be considered. “If this was a smear campaign on vampires, why wouldn’t whoever was behind it have gone public by now? They could have used the internet to spread the news, but there’s been nothing like that. I’m not saying someone isn’t trying to frame Ivan, but I’m not sold on that being the cause.”
“There’s something else,” Stephen said, joining the conversation.
Charlie h
ad noticed he’d been quieter than normal, and she didn’t blame him. All of this was overwhelming.
“What is it?”
“I was able to switch on the camera without removing it from the evidence bag. It’s hard to make out, but what do you think this is?”
He held out the bagged camera, and they all leaned closer to get a better view.
Charlie frowned. Stephen was right. It was hard to see, but if she squinted and looked closely, she could just make it out.
“Is that a paw?”
Stephen nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I thought it was, too. Big, and black, and hairy?”
“A dog that just happened to walk by?” she suggested.
Her colleague raised his eyebrows. “With no owner?”
She shrugged. “It’s possible.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Magno said. “In the meantime, I think we can assume Ivan isn’t the killer, and now he’s found his Bloodmate, I don’t think he’ll be a danger to anyone else either. But we do need to make sure no other deaths happen on the moors.”
Charlie spoke up. “The moors cover hundreds of square miles. There’s no way we can patrol the whole area.”
“Then make sure people know not to come up here.”
She exhaled a sigh. “Unfortunately, we already tried that. You tell people around here that there’s some kind of animal killing people, all it does is get people fired up to try to find it. There have been rumours of a beast stalking Dartmoor for hundreds of years now. Every man and his dog wants a decent photograph they can sell to the media.”
Jana frowned at her words. “There’s supposed to be a beast living up here?”
Charlie waved a hand dismissively. “It’s nothing. We get the occasional animal escape from the local zoo, or some idiot buys a big cat thinking it’ll make a fun exotic pet, and when they realise their mistake, they dump it up here rather than being responsible and taking it to a rescue.”
But Jana hadn’t listened to her reasoning. “Maybe this is something paranormal that we haven’t come across before.”
Charlie stared at the female werewolf. “There’s nothing paranormal stalking the moors. It’s just ghost tales. This place is full of them. There are supposed to be ghosts of long dead infantry men still riding the moors, and pixies in certain areas. There’s even supposed to be a cottage that’s often seen from a distance with smoke rising from the chimney, but then vanishes the moment someone tries to find it.” She gave a small laugh to prove how ludicrous all these things were, but the wolf shifter didn’t so much as crack a smile.
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