Dead of Night (Hunters of the Dark #4)
Page 46
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Agent Ross looked over the pad of paper in her hand and sighed. She took off her glasses and rubbed her nose before regarding Shanna once more. “I’m sorry, Shanna. I think we got off on the wrong foot here. I’m not trying to find something wrong with what you’re doing and get you in trouble. I’m trying to analyze your actions in the field and come up with a better way to do things for the future. Do you understand that?”
Shanna nodded. “I get it.” She yawned.
Agent Ross noted the action and pulled up the sleeve of her suit jacket to look at her watch. “I know it’s late. I just have a few more questions before I let you retire for the evening.”
Frowning, Shanna sat forward in her chair and gestured to Agent Ross’s wrist. “What is that?”
Ross smiled politely. “It’s a wristwatch.”
Shanna shook her head and Agent Ross nodded, pulling the sleeve up again to reveal black ink on her skin.
“You mean my tattoo,” Agent Ross said, nodding. “Yes, I made a few rash decisions in my youth.”
Shanna stared at the tattoo, her face tight. She took in the black body, the spark of life in its eyes, and the wings that fanned out to spill over Ross’ wrists. “A crow.”
“Yes, a crow,” Agent Ross agreed. “Beautiful creatures. Now, tell me about this red-headed vampire that was creating vampires in the area for Roma.”
Shanna couldn’t tear her eyes away from the tattoo. The image sent a cold feeling of dread through her body as Rangda’s voice echoed in her ears: The crows are not what they appear.
Agent Ross pulled the sleeve of her jacket up to cover the tattoo and cleared her throat politely. “Miss Hunt?”
Shanna swallowed hard and forced a smile. “Yes, sorry. Um…all I really know is that the vampire had replaced Scarlet Fever.”
“But it wasn’t Scarlet Fever.”
“No. Our sources in New York confirmed that her ashes were still buried there. Scarlet Fever is dead.”
“Sources you will not reveal.”
Shanna met her eyes. “I doubt you would approve of my sources.”
Agent Ross chuckled. “Very well. And you have no other clues as to the identity of this vampire?”
“None, except that Roma said she was ambitious, and that she had taken over for Scarlet.”
“Okay. I think that will be all for now.” Agent Ross smiled at her, in a sort of patronizing way. “Get some sleep now, dear.”
Shanna frowned and looked at Agent Ross. The woman seemed to let her guard down for a moment. And Shanna felt like she knew her in that brief moment. But when she looked at Ross now, she was the same severe-looking woman she’d been talking to for the past hour. Perhaps it was that she was so professional and no-nonsense most of the time that any hint of humanity was jarring. She glanced at her wrist again, but the crow tattoo was covered by her sleeve.
“Let me know if you think of anything else,” Agent Ross said, rifling through her files. When Shanna didn’t move, she looked up. “That will be all, Miss Hunt.”
Shanna nodded and stood, quickly slipping from the room. Her heart was racing for some reason, like it sensed danger, like she’d just been in the room with a lion.
What could Rangda have meant by her vague warning? What did the crow mean? She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. She felt out of sorts, a little disoriented following the interview and wanted nothing more than to slip into unconsciousness.
When she reached her bedroom, she didn’t even bother changing. She fell onto her bed, and pulled the covers up to her chin. Then she let out a contented sigh and closed her eyes. But sleep wouldn’t come. Her mind kept racing, turning over her answers to Agent Ross’ questions. She felt like she had to be guarded around the woman, very thoughtful about her answers. She hated feeling like that, but like Valor had said, it was a short term situation. Agent Ross would be gone soon enough.
Tell me about this red-headed vampire that was creating vampires in the area for Roma.
Shanna frowned, recalling the redhead at Roma’s, wearing the mask along with her other guests, including the one she’d at first mistaken for Cameron. Why had she seemed so familiar? Was it because she’d made the connection between the redhead and the vampire creating vampires in the area?
She thought back to what the vampire she had created had told them in the morgue: “She also had red hair. And the way she moved…she was like an angel of death, with flowing red hair. Damnedest thing I’ve ever seen. But she stroked my hair and whispered in my ear, and I listened to it all, hook line and sinker. Didn’t even fight back when she slid her fangs into my neck, not even when I felt my life slipping away, and that’s the truth.”
An angel of death. Appropriate term. She was dead and she delivered death. Sighing, Shanna thought back to the woman at Roma’s, behind the gold mask, her red hair billowing from out of the hood. She’d hoped she was Amelia at first, but her hair had been too orange, like lava.
Like lava.
She had mistaken Amelia for another friend of hers when she’d first met the hunter. Her friend, Kelly. Her hair had had more of an orange tint to it though, as well. She’d even imagined it looked like lava.
Thinking about her friend, her one and only friend before hunting, brought a fresh sting of pain to her chest. She tried not to conjure images of that night at Styx, but they would forever haunt her. She saw Kelly’s body lying on the floor, the telltale sign of glitter on her face alerting Shanna to her presence. Her dead eyes above her torn throat.
Shanna frowned. Torn throat?
She recalled seeing the film where Kelly had been killed. Scarlet Fever had drunk from her, ended her life. Then she had passed her remains to the vampire Grant, who had continued to drink from her. But they hadn’t torn open her throat. They had just bitten into her throat.
“Someone’s hiding the fact that they’re creating vampires by slashing their throats open after feeding from them. Making damn sure that no one sees those bite marks.”
Shanna sat up, her eyes wide, her hand touching the bite scars on her own neck. “Oh, my god. Kelly.”