by Cat Devon
“Zoe put a hex on the loft so the hunter can’t leave,” Damon said.
“I figured as much,” Alex said. “I don’t want Keira knowing we have witches here so I told her the security system was high-tech like those fences to keep dogs in their owners’ yards.”
“Did you put a collar on the bitch?”
“Damon, behave!” Zoe sternly reprimanded him as she entered the room filled with the latest cutting-edge computers and flat screens displaying neighborhood surveillance footage. Zoe was a breath of fresh air in the high-tech surroundings. She was also a witch and Damon’s lover.
Damon glared at her. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to find out what’s going on. I don’t do hexes like that easily or readily. I did it because you asked me to but—”
“No buts.” Damon put his hands on her shoulders, kissed her quickly, and turned her back toward the exit. “Now leave.”
She escaped his hold. “Do not piss off the witch,” she warned him with narrowed eyes.
“To answer your question, Damon, no, I did not put a collar on Keira,” Alex said.
“Which is why he is a better man than you,” Zoe said with a sniff.
“Better man but not a better vampire,” Damon said. “He brought a hunter here to Vamptown…”
“A hunter’s granddaughter,” Alex corrected him. “Really Damon, you need to get your facts straight, bro.” Turning to Zoe, he said, “Can’t you do a locator spell to find The Executioner’s journal or the missing batches of blood?”
“I wish I could. I tried, unsuccessfully,” she said. “What’s Keira’s tie to the blood bank robberies? You don’t think she’s responsible for the attempted robbery at the Evergreen Funeral Home last night, do you?”
“It’s too soon to tell. She has a godson who has some sort of blood disorder, and he needs blood transfusions,” Alex said.
“Does he have a rare type?”
“Yes,” Neville Rickerbacher said. The resident computer geek could hack databases at vampire speed. Neville had been turned by his own stockbroker in the 1980s when he’d accused him of being a bloodsucker. It turned out the guy was indeed a bloodsucking vampire.
Since then Neville had used his computer and stock market knowledge, along with his elite team, to make the money that kept Vamptown going. Despite his Midas touch, he insisted on wearing his glasses with duct tape holding the hinge together rather than spring for a newer pair. He was currently wearing a BYTE ME T-shirt with his jeans.
He pointed to the screens lining the wall. “Her godson is Benjamin aka Benji Goddard, son of Liz Goddard who is Keira’s best friend.” Photos of both appeared on the screen. “He’s ten years old and has a rare medical condition I can’t pronounce but basically it means he needs a lot of blood or he’ll die. No vampire connection, though.”
“So maybe Keira is stealing the blood herself for him and trying to make us suspicious of the Gold Coast vamps, and them of us. This could be some master plan her grandfather concocted.” Alex said.
“I gave you ten minutes to get answers from her,” Damon said. “What did you discover?”
That she has the kick of a mule, Alex thought to himself. Not that he’d admit he’d let his defenses down for a moment and she’d rewarded him by kneeing his nuts. Yes, vampires healed quickly, but damn that had stung—his body and his pride.
He wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Keira might look all sweet with those root-beer-brown doe eyes of hers, but she was hell on wheels. He was glad she was wearing flats and not stilettos, which could have done some serious albeit temporary damage to his Sanchez family jewels.
“I was in the process of learning more when Sierra arrived and interrupted us,” Alex said.
“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?”
“She knows we can’t bleed her. ‘Hunter blood is not good for us,’ as she put it,” Alex said.
Zoe raised her hand. “Neither is witch blood. I’m just reminding you.” She kissed Damon. “I’ll be leaving now.”
Once she’d departed, Alex spoke again. “I need more time to get Keira to turn over the journal.”
“What makes you think that more time would make a difference?”
Alex just gave him a look.
Damon raised one dark eyebrow. “Really? She has a thing for Latino vampires?”
“I refuse to answer on the grounds I may incriminate myself,” Alex said with mocking humility.
“Right,” Damon said with equal mockery. “Since you’re such a modest guy and all.”
“Vampire. I’m a modest vampire.”
Damon laughed. “Like hell you are. You’re about as modest as I am.”
“Which is not modest at all,” Neville said before ducking his head and focusing on whatever he was typing on his keyboard.
“Right,” Alex said.
“I could hook up some surveillance cameras in the loft,” Neville said. “Maybe then we could get a better idea of what this hunter woman knows and how she plans on attacking us.”
“Whoa, who said anything about her attacking us? And she’s not a hunter,” Alex said.
Neville pointed to one of the display screens where an infrared image of Keira appeared. While the loft didn’t have surveillance cameras, every building had infrared imaging capabilities if required. “Look at her. She doesn’t even compute on the scan to detect vampire, druid, and human blood. I’m clearly going to have to update the program to include hunter blood,” Neville muttered before focusing intently on his multitude of high-tech tools. “I’ll need some of her blood to do that.”
“Didn’t you hear me say that hunter blood isn’t good for vampires?” Alex reminded him.
“Yeah,” Neville said, “but I don’t intend to drink it or anything. I just want Doc Boomer to work on testing it to figure out the particulates in it.”
Doc Boomer ran the local Happy Times twenty-four-hour emergency dental clinic specializing in care for the area vampires. He got his nickname because of his booming voice. He had a medical as well as dental background.
“How do you suggest we do that?” Alex said.
“Doc Boomer could tell you how he’d decipher the blood work…”
Alex interrupted him. “I meant how do we get a sample of her blood? How toxic is hunter blood?”
“I would guess that hers has to be diluted by the fact that her parents were not hunters, just her grandfather,” Neville said. “I say we compel a human phlebotomist to take the blood sample; then we can figure out how toxic it is. I can get a guy over there in twenty minutes.”
“Do it,” Damon said.
“Hold on,” Alex said. “We go sending strangers with needles into the loft and she’s going to freak out.”
“She’s already dealt with vampires today,” Damon pointed out. “How freaked out can she get? And if she does then you can calm her down.”
“Gee, thanks,” Alex said.
“Traditionally the loft is one of the few places where we do not activate our cameras, but that can change,” Neville said. “Nick didn’t want us putting cameras in there, and since it is his place, and since he is a respected member of this community…”
“Who has to hear it from Zoe that we’ve got a hunter’s granddaughter in our midst,” Nick said as he strolled into the room. “And not just any hunter, but The Executioner.”
Nick St. George was the owner of the All Nighter Bar and Grill as well as the head of the local business association. Vampires owned most of the area businesses, with the exception of Daniella Delaney, proprietor of Heavenly Cupcakes.
Nick preferred actions to words. He also preferred being with Daniella to being immortal. No one really talked about the link between Daniella and Nick or the clash with Miles, the deceased former head of the Gold Coast clan who’d had a centuries-old grudge against Nick. No one mentioned that much, or the fact that Nick could actually consume human food now.
No, Nick didn’t talk much, but when he d
id, the residents of Vamptown paid attention.
“Alex was the next one on The Executioner’s hit list,” Damon said.
“Lucky you,” Nick drawled before taking a seat. “I realize you two are the supposed security specialists—”
“Hey!” Damon protested. “What’s with this ‘supposed’ shit?”
“But you report to me,” Nick continued.
“I was just filling Damon in,” Alex said. “Lynch came to see me at work about the thefts. He brought up the fact that Vamptown vamps can tolerate sunshine. Maybe they attempted to take the blood from the funeral home in the hope of figuring out how we do that.”
“It has nothing to do with our food source,” Damon said. “It’s our tat.”
“I know.” Alex rubbed the back of his neck where the unique fleur-de-lis tattoo was located. “But they don’t. That could be why they tried to get into the funeral home. I mean, why try to hit the place otherwise? Blood banks and hospitals make sense.”
“We’re lucky the alarm system scared them off,” Damon said.
“Yeah, but the problem is that the vamp cams around the funeral home were all wiped clear,” Neville said. “I’m working on trying to restore the image from before it went down, but so far no luck.”
“That doesn’t bode well,” Alex said. “Those cameras belong to Vamptown, not the city of Chicago. They were designed to capture vampire images, which can be too fast for regular cameras. Could a human have messed with the cameras?”
Neville shrugged. “It is possible but not likely.”
“So we’re back to the Gold Coast clan being responsible for this,” Alex said.
“Or The Executioner’s granddaughter,” Damon said.
“Don’t worry.” Alex’s voice was grim. “If she is responsible, I’ll take care of it.”
“Are you willing to do whatever it takes?” Damon asked.
Alex’s expression turned bleak. “I’ve done it before, haven’t I?”
Nick placed his hand on Alex’s arm. “Vamptown appreciates your service.”
“They sure as hell better,” Alex muttered darkly. He’d done more than his fair share to protect his clan.
Chapter Five
Keira eyed Sierra cautiously. The woman might write great paranormal ghost stories, but she lived with vampires. Alex had been gone for fifteen minutes. Keira should be glad for his absence. She wasn’t. Not that she was relaxed. She wasn’t. She should be trying to think of a way to escape. She wasn’t. She did have a headache and a lot of questions. “Are you a vampire, too?”
“No way,” Sierra said.
“Why can’t you help me escape? Is it because they’ve compelled you?”
“I can’t be compelled.”
“Why not?”
“It’s complicated.”
“I can’t be compelled, either,” Keira said. “You and me, we’ve got that in common.”
“I’m sorry I can’t help you.” Sierra sounded truly regretful. “But I can give you a cupcake.” She held it up invitingly.
“Red velvet,” Keira said bitterly. “Is this your version of the evil queen offering a poisoned apple to Snow White?”
“This cupcake is not poisoned. Look, I’ll take a bite to prove it to you.” She did so.
Keira still wasn’t convinced.
Sierra sighed and set the rest of the cupcake on the large table that held Keira’s laptop. “Maybe you’ll want some later.”
“Can I have my laptop?”
“You won’t be able to use it.”
“Then give it to me,” Keira said.
Sierra handed it over.
Keira quickly opened it but the laptop was dead. The screen remained blank. Maybe the battery was dead, although she could have sworn she’d recharged it this morning. But then she had been rattled after reading her grandfather’s journal last night. She couldn’t trust her memory. She couldn’t trust much at the moment.
She checked the contents of her messenger bag that Alex had strewn over the table. Nope, no sign of the cord needed to charge her computer. She must have left it in her apartment.
She blushed as Sierra eyed the box of condoms. “I bought them for a friend at the office,” she muttered, stuffing them back in the messenger bag. “She’s too embarrassed to buy them herself.”
“You can order them online.”
“She doesn’t trust online stores. Not that any of this is anyone’s business.” Keira decided it was time to turn the tables on Sierra and ask her personal questions. “So are you and Alex a couple?”
“A couple?” Sierra laughed. “No.”
“Right. Because that would be too weird, right?”
“Actually, no. I am in love with a vampire. Just not Alex. So if you want him—”
“I just met him.”
“Vampire time is different from normal time. Things happen very quickly here. Relationships can develop very quickly. You’d think because they are immortal that it would be the opposite, that they’d take their time, but that hasn’t been my experience.”
“Yeah, well, I’m into normal time.” Keira tapped her oversized watch to make her point. “As in, I’ve been held hostage here against my will for over two hours now.”
“You’ll be here a lot longer. So let’s make the best of it,” Sierra said. “How did you meet Alex? Did he arrest you or something?”
“Didn’t your vampire friends tell you?”
Sierra shook her head. “Not the details, no.”
“I went to see Alex at work because of the recent robberies of blood from blood banks and hospitals.”
“Because he’s a cop?”
“Because he’s a vampire.”
“How did you know that? Is it because of your grandfather’s journal? And what gave you the courage to go see Alex, knowing he’s a vampire?”
“It might not have been my smartest move,” Keira readily admitted.
“It was a very ballsy and dangerous move. One that the heroine of my books might make but not me,” Sierra said.
“I had my reasons.”
“I heard about your godson. I’m sorry,” Sierra said.
“Thanks.” Keira was worried about Benji. He was such a good kid. It wasn’t fair that he had to deal with needles and pain and illness. Despite all that, he still managed to keep a smile on his face.
“You worry too much, K,” he’d tell her. His mom, Liz, had been Keira’s closest friend since middle school. When Liz found out she was pregnant, the father took off and had never been heard from again.
Benji’s first words were Momma and then K. That was his nickname for Keira. “It will be okay, K,” he’d say. “Don’t be sad. Listen to your spidey senses.”
Her spidey senses were telling her she was in deep shit here.
“You knew Alex was a vampire because your grandfather was a vampire hunter and he talked about that in his journal, right?” Sierra said. “You must have been surprised when you read that. Shocked, even.”
“I was. Twenty-four hours ago I had no idea that vampires existed.”
“That must be quite a journal.”
It was, but Keira was not about to go into details. Sierra might seem nice, but she was aligned with the enemy. “How long did it take you to believe vampires are real?”
“A lot less than that,” Sierra admitted. “But then I actually saw Ronan in action. He moved faster than humanly possible to save me from being crushed to death by a bookcase falling on me.”
“I know about that freaky speed. Alex picked me up in my apartment to save me from vampires on the fire escape,” Keira said.
“But you already knew he was a vampire before that. I didn’t have a clue about Ronan. I didn’t believe it until I saw his fangs. To be honest, even then I thought it was some kind of punk joke or something. But I was fairly quickly convinced.”
“And Ronan is…?”
“The vampire I love,” Sierra readily replied.
“How many vampires are there h
ere?”
“I don’t know the exact count.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“Not knowing the vampire population? No, it doesn’t bother me,” Sierra said.
“I meant being surrounded by them.”
“The tone of your voice is an indication that you don’t approve. It’s easy to judge when you don’t know the facts.”
“What facts?”
“Not all vampires are bad.”
“Yeah, that’s what Alex said.”
“It’s true.”
“Forgive me if I’m not convinced,” Keira said. “After all, they are keeping me here against my will. That can’t continue, you know. People will be looking for me.”
“Apparently you do have vampires looking for you.”
“I meant humans. I have friends. They’ll be worried about me when I don’t show up.”
“They’ll be compelled with the information that you’re fine.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“It’s not my call,” Sierra said.
“My blood will be on your hands,” Keira said.
“You’re a hunter’s granddaughter. Your blood is toxic to a vampire.”
“They could still kill me like they killed my grandfather.”
“If you thought Alex killed your grandfather, then why did you go to him?”
“I don’t know he did it,” Keira admitted.
“Alex put you here in relative isolation to protect you.”
“Is that what he told you?”
“It’s what Pat told me.”
“And you trust him?”
“I do. I can’t be compelled, so my trust has to be earned,” she reminded Keira.
“Why can’t you be compelled?”
“Like I said earlier, it’s a complicated story.”
“I have a lot of time on my hands.”
“Why are you so interested?” Sierra countered. “Do you plan on writing a story about vampires?”
“Like anyone would believe me if I did.”
“Some would. I should warn you that you won’t be able to tell anyone in the outside world about any of this.”
