Romance with a Bite

by Tamsin Baker

  ‘And this,’ he held up a photo of the blood-drained body. ‘This is Claire Fournier.’ He gave Juliet a moment for the name to register.

  ‘As in Katrine Fournier?’

  Alain nodded. ‘Her mother.’

  Name took the photo. ‘Strong resemblance. She must have been a baby when this happened.’ She started to hand back the image, then stopped. Confusion creased the space between her eyes as she tilted her head, then her eyes widened. ‘But Katrine’s a vampire. Why the hell would she do that? I

  Some humans let themselves be turned, or even asked to be, but strangely enough, it wasn’t illegal.

  ‘She didn’t. She’s not a vampire.’

  ‘And you know that how? Why didn’t she say that when we were there? To take herself out of suspicion.’

  ‘Sit down.’

  Juliet sat down and Alain brought her up to speed about seeing Katrine. Only what she needed to know.

  ‘So Katrine was the victim’s child. Now there’s another killing, and this victim also has a small child. It doesn’t give us much, but at least it’s something.’

  He was thankful that Juliet’s ever-practical nature always overrode her feminine instincts when she was on the job. If she’d had more time to analyze Alain’s story he had no doubt she’d detect his other-than-professional interest in Katrine.

  ‘Not much though. The investigation didn’t get very far back then. Even though it was almost half a century since vampires integrated, there was still a remnant of fear.’

  ‘Does it say that?’

  ‘Of course not. But there’s barely any notes.’ He held up the few sheets of typed paper out of the file. ‘You and I both know that the less evidence there is on a case, the more notes there usually are because we pursue any hint of a clue. It was reviewed regularly but always put back in cold cases marked as “no new leads”.’

  ‘But Katrine is the common factor.’

  ‘Yes. Obviously not as a suspect, but it’s all we’ve got to go on.’

  ‘What did she tell you about her enclave. Anything little thing we can grab onto?’

  Alain ran a finger down the sparse notes he’d taken during their conversation, then tapped a point he’d marked with an asterisk.

  ‘That some of the women sometimes still drink blood. Consensually.’

  ‘Woah, that’s not a little thing. Are we going back to talk to the blood-suckers?’

  Alain glared at her. For a young woman in the current day and age, Juliet had little regard for political correctness. He may, or may not, have had something to do with that.

  ‘Katrine didn’t give me names, and to be honest once she told me about her mother, everything else went out of my head.’ Not good policing and his distraction was a little more than he was letting on.

  ‘So we’re going back to Eternel?’

  ‘Yeah. The coincidence is too strong to be just that. She won’t like pointing the finger at friends. At family. But she’ll do the right thing. And ultimately, it could turn up her mother’s killer.’

  ‘I always thought they, the vampires, were fascinating because you never heard negative stuff. But knowing some still drink blood.’ She shuddered. ‘Puts a whole different perspective on it.’

  ‘They’re not predators, according to Katrine. It’s controlled and consensual.’

  ‘But obviously one of them, whether from Eternel or not, has gone way further than that.’

  A thought suddenly flared in Alain’s mind. If Katrine was the one common connection, and they went sniffing around, was she safe? She saw them as family, but did that go both ways? Lisette had taken Katrine under her wing, but no one else owed her loyalty.

  Dread chilled his blood as totally irrational thoughts of a vampire uprising behind the walls of Eternal turning on their adopted human.

  ‘What?

  His concern was probably written all over his face. ‘Nothing. My imagination is just running ahead of itself. Just wondering if this connection is important, whether Katrine’s safe among them all.’

  ‘We don’t have any reason to think that, do we? Both victims were young mothers. That’s not Katrine.’

  ‘True.’ But his gut told him to be worried. He couldn’t base it on anything, but his gut was rarely wrong.

  CHAPTER 11

  Katrine looped the pearls around her neck and adjusted them in the mirror. Yes, they covered the two marks on her neck and now the crystal vial sat at the base of her throat. She was back in her black lace, more aware of her humanity than before, and so much more conscious that she had a part to play.

  Sounds of the others moving around, getting ready for the night, came from beyond her door. Her hand lingered on the knob with a strange reluctance to join her family.

  She’d lived with these women for over two decades. She knew them, understood their history, yet now she wasn’t sure she’d be able to hide what she’d experienced. Or would they be able to tell? Like after the first time she’d had sex and had been convinced it somehow showed on her face

  Her family were genuinely good women. Unprejudiced. But she’d never reveal the truth about Lucien to them. That he wanted his identity suppressed was enough for her. She trusted them, but totally understood his fear of exposure and his need for secrecy.

  She drew a breath and opened the door. Business as usual.

  ‘Ahh, there’s my girl.’ Lisette had paused at the top of the stairs at the sound of Katrine’s approach. ‘It’s not like you not to be downstairs by now.’ She tilted her head and appraised Katrine. ‘You must have had a good time last night. He was very good looking.’

  ‘He?’

  ‘Your mysterious secret admirer who’s been here for the last two nights.’

  She should have known Lisette knew more than she gave away but she rarely took more than a cursory interest in what Katrine did when she left the club. Her interest in the outside world was all but non-existent.

  ‘He,’ there was no point denying she’d left with Lucien, ‘is very nice and I enjoyed his company.’ Lisette knowing she’d been with a man wasn’t new territory, but she didn’t imagine daughters went into detail about their sexual exploits, they had never discussed it.

  ‘Enjoy, my darling.’ Lisette stroked her cheek. ‘Take your pleasure where you find it.’ Her fingers brushed the pearls around her throat, then she turned and went downstairs.

  Katrine’s fingers went to the spot under the pearls where a gentle heat still radiated from Lucien’s bite. Had that been just an innocent, motherly gesture, or could Lisette sense what had happened.

  No, if Lisette in any way sensed Lucien was anything other than human, she’d not keep quiet it to herself.

  Her own guilt at having a secret was just playing on her conscience.

  Katrine went downstairs to help open up. A residual hint of the lethargy Lucien’s bite had induced still lingered but she had to give her job her full attention tonight.

  He had left her at the door with another soul-searing kiss, then brushed his lips over where he’d marked her neck and whispered thank you.

  They hadn’t made further plans, and that was alright.

  Lucien’s revelation risked a lot more than the exposure of her own secret did.

  While Alain seemed a reasonable man, if he knew there was a male vampire in Paris, he wouldn’t discount him as a prime suspect. Someone who didn’t have a reputation of being a well-integrated member of society and didn’t have the security of a whole enclave to give him an alibi.

  Katrine could imagine the probable hysteria in the city if it was known a solitary male vampire had survived. The very fact that he’d kept himself hidden would surely arouse the worst type of suspicion.

  There was no obligation to tell Alain. Perhaps she’d not see him again and it wouldn’t even be an issue.

  ***

  He’d barely been asleep a few hours when the phone had blared on the empty pillow next to Alain’s head. Another body in the cemetery.

  T
he traveler coffee he’d drained as he drove to the office had done its job and he couldn’t help but wonder if this one also tied into Katrine.

  Photos of the latest victim already adorned the case board, her wounds all too familiar.

  ‘So much for it being a random, one-off thing.’ Juliet said before he’d even got his jacket half off. ‘If there was going to be another one, I honestly didn’t think it would be so soon after the first.’

  ‘Me either. The escalation is crazy quick. Something triggered them to start, and whatever it was, it hasn’t eased off.’ He closed his eyes, knowing the answer already to this question. ‘I don’t suppose there’s anything new to go on?’

  ‘Nothing physical. Her name is Marie Broussard. 25, single but has a six month old. We. You? Will need to check if she’s ever been to Eternel. There’s nothing in here,’ Juliet held up a mobile phone, ‘to put her there but we need to speak to her friends.’

  ‘If there’s a connection there, at least it’s somewhere to focus.’

  Not even an hour later they had the information that Marie had a thing for one of the Eternel barmen and had gone there last night with a friend.

  If Katrine had worked last night, they could question her now rather than having to wait until nightfall to speak to the others.

  ***

  Lucien hated lurking in the shadows, like the predator he’d been so long ago, but he didn’t want to draw attention to himself. He could just cross the street, take his usual spot at the club and have some time with Katrine. But the feeling of unease that had slithered through his body when Lisette had come close wasn’t to be ignored.

  If there was the slightest chance she’d picked up on what he was, the risk wasn’t worth taking. According to Katrine, Lisette rarely left the premises which didn’t leave him much opportunity.

  They hadn’t made a plan to meet up again. She’d let him carry her home, too exhausted to notice the speed with which they’d travelled. He’d been reluctant to put her down, wanting to hold on to how she snuggled against his chest.

  But he’d set her down on her feet outside the club’s doors and as she’d slumped against him, he’d wiped the smear of blood from the puncture marks on her throat.

  It had taken all his restraint, down in his chamber, to just pierce her skin and not drink. Her intense response to the bite and his fingers on her sex had helped distract from the reawakening of his long-dormant taste for human blood.

  He’d kissed her gently and helped her open the door, then watched until a light came on in an upstairs window.

  As he’d moved away, to return to the solitary confinement of his chamber, a movement had caught the corner of his eye. Someone coming out of Eternel.

  Opening the door slowly, peering out then slipping in through the small gap and closing the door slowly. Someone dressed all in black, including a hooded top that hid their face.

  A patron who was ashamed to be seen at such a place?

  None of his business.

  Katrine’s window was in darkness now. The ridiculous thought flited through his mind that if she’d been in her room, he’d throw pebbles at the window like a vampire Romeo.

  In a way they were as doomed as the Shakespearian couple. Her family would never accept him, and he’d already planned his demise.

  But they weren’t in love. In lust, most definitely, and a very healthy dose of it. And he liked her. That was the dangerous part. Lust could be dealt with, but feelings of any sort weren’t a luxury he could afford.

  Gentle kisses in the moonlight were for humans and he shouldn’t have let himself fall back into old ways. The primal intensity of their kiss in the midnight hours was all he would give. For her wellbeing. And for his.

  CHAPTER 12

  It was as if the last few days hadn’t happened. She was sitting with a young couple, playing her part, waiting to perform. No Lucien at the back table. No Alain, asking questions or waiting to take her out. And that’s where her thoughts were, rather than on doing her job.

  She’d thought she liked her life uncomplicated. Uncomplicated was easy, but she was beginning to realize it was also boring.

  Tonight, she had nothing to look forward to other than the brief time she’d be on stage, losing herself in the music and the movement. Then what?

  Nothing more than the same inane conversations. She straightened in her seat, forcing her concentration back to the couple and pushed back the disquiet that was unsettling her.

  ‘What would happen if you went out in the daylight?’ the women in the couple was asking. ‘Would you go up in a ball of flame?’

  ‘Rita, that’s a terrible thing to ask,’ her other half admonished, but Katrine could see the same question in his eyes.

  ‘Something like that.’ She’d heard stories about how vampires would punish their own by exposure to sunlight. Thankfully inter-vampire fighting had died out with the males of the species. But would this recent killing change that?

  ‘So, how old are you?’ Miss Persistence was on a roll.

  ‘A lady never tells.’ Katrine smiled, and fiddled with her blood vial, hoping that would put them off getting too personal. She didn’t want to lie, and tonight she wasn’t in the mood to have to think too hard about how to answer the tricky questions.

  ‘It must be amazing to never get any older.’

  It must be. But she’d never know. Wrinkles, and aches and pains and all the side-effects of aging would be hers eventually.

  ‘It has its advantages, but is it worth never seeing the sun again? Never enjoying a delicious meal?’ She really needed to get her mind back on the job, and not drifting off to the places that her time with Alain now led her thoughts.

  She’d always been aware of the everyday human pleasures vampires no longer enjoyed, but now a light seemed to shine on all the delights the women, and Lucien, could no longer have.

  This wasn’t good.

  She’d always had a calm mind, took each day as it came and knew with reasonable certainty what it would hold.

  Not anymore.

  ‘So, when was the last time you had a real meal then?’ Miss Persistance’s other half now joined the interrogation. Katrine looked at her watch.

  ‘Sorry to cut this short, but I have to get ready for my number.’ She stood, giving them a smile. ‘Enjoy the rest of your evening.’

  There was more than an hour till showtime, but she would go up to the terrace and take advantage of some quiet time to get herself back into the right frame of mind.

  She moved through the crowded room, acknowledging a couple of the girl and a couple of regular clients. In the corridor behind the bar she turned towards the dressing room, then changed her mind and took the stairs to the roof.

  The faint scent of the night garden met Katrine as she stepped onto the terrace. She walked among the white blooms and green foliage, then turned away when she came near the gazebo where she’d brought Lucien. Desire flickered low in her belly.

  She moved to the low wall, where they’d looked out at their Paris. If she ever moved away, she’d miss this. The view. The space. But if she was in her own place, she wouldn’t have the need to get away.

  A movement below caught her attention. Someone stepped out, lifted their head to look up at her, saluted then walked away.

  Lucien. She already recognized that brisk, deliberate stride. Had he been waiting and hoping she’d leave the club? Why hadn’t he just come in?

  She sat on the parapet and drew her knees up. This was her life now, balanced between two worlds. She laughed. When had she become so philosophical?

  Since two men had ventured into her life and pulled her out of her complacent life.

  She swung her legs back to the terrace, stood and stretched. Enough contemplation for now. The fresh air and seeing the enigmatic Lucien had rekindled her energy and she was looking forward to her number.

  Luis might have arrived. She’d have a cheeky drink with him, share some banter and put her all into their routi
ne tonight.

  He lounged in a battered armchair, scrolling through his phone.

  ‘Looking for a hot date?’ Katrine teased. He had more offers than he could ever take up from club patrons, but he rarely took them up. While he played up his persona at Eternel, and enjoyed the attention, he preferred his real life.

  ‘Could be.’ He gave her his endearingly cheeky smile. ‘Some of us prefer not to slip out of the club with a hunky looking patron.’

  So Lisette, and now Luis knew. Katrine drew a resigned sigh. ‘Can’t a girl have any secrets around here?’

  ‘Not when it involves an Alain Delon look-alike. You have great taste, cherie. He doesn’t play both ways, does he?’

  ‘Dream on, Luis. You’re spoiled for choice and don’t need to encroach on my territory. Now do something useful and help me with my dress.’

  Katrine untied a scarf from around her neck and quickly looped her pearls around her neck. But not quickly enough.

  ‘Well, well. Who’s playing on both sides now?’ Luis pushed aside the rows of pearls where the bite marks were slowly fading. ‘Who’s the lucky woman? Was it good?’

  She had no problem letting Luis think she’d hooked up with a woman, vampire or human.

  ‘I don’t kiss and tell, Luis.’ She pulled her dress off, and Luis dropped the white lace over her head and pulled up the zip.

  ‘Well, Miss Katrine, you’ll be able to put a whole new slant on your role tonight. So, tell me. What’s it like? Being bitten?’ He propped himself against the make-up table, crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her expectantly.

  Katrine touched her neck. A smile crept into the corners of her mouth at the memory of the heat and (pleasure) that had surged through her body.

  ‘That good, huh?’

  She nodded.

  ‘Damn. It’s a crying shame that all the boy biters died out.’

  Oh, but they haven’t. As much as she trusted Luis, that truth was something she wouldn’t share.