His brow furrowed, he looked surprised as he placed his hands upon my shoulders.
“When Leah? When have you felt vampire energy before?”
I’d felt it more than I cared to think about but I wasn’t about to share that information with him. I’d been hunting vampires for years. I didn’t think he’d appreciate that.
I ignored his questions and reached out and laid my hand on the side of his face. “Are you after my blood, Ian?”
“No, my love,” his face softened, “it is not your blood that I want.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be a raving bloodthirsty maniac?”
He laughed bitterly. “It is true that a very young vampire would find control difficult. I have had many years to gain control of my … thirst. I have no desire for human blood.”
“You can’t be vampire. Your energy is, different … pure.” I looked into his eyes. “You have a soul,” I whispered.
“No!” He flinched back from me. “I don’t. My soul was taken from me long ago.”
“You do,” I insisted softly.
I suddenly remembered our kiss and I swallowed back the panic rising within me as I remembered the blood. Shit. He’d bled me, tasted my blood!
“Mother Puss Sucker!” My body rocked with horror.
Ian’s expression crumpled. “You drank my blood, you son of a bitch. Did you just try to turn me?”
His relieved laughter interrupted me, which turned my horror to anger. Good. Better angry than afraid. I knew how to handle anger. I struck out with all the force I had and made direct contact with his stomach. He buckled over and I felt a small measure of satisfaction until I realized that his body shook with laughter instead of pain. He stepped an arm’s length away from me.
“My apologies.” He held his hands in surrender and composed his face into a grin of amusement. “I forgot for a moment that you are human, an angry human, but human just the same. That mere nick was not in any way a danger to you. You are still quite mortal.”
He cocked his head to the side, like a bird eyeing its prey. “You said you have felt vampire energy before, did you not learn about us?”
Relief mixed in with my anger. “No, I didn’t. I just kill them. Educate me.”
So much for subtle, but what the hell? I’d come this far and soon enough he’d know what I did for a living anyway.
“You are not police.” He made it a statement.
“No, I am not. I have, on occasion, been employed by the government to hunt vampires. Are you still willing to answer my questions?” If the fact that I’d killed other vampires bothered him, it didn’t show.
“You must first try to ask your questions with words instead of violence.” He rubbed his stomach where I’d hit him. A slight glow of satisfaction rose through me. I hadn’t hurt him, but hell, at least he’d felt it.
“You obviously know that immortal people do exist. We have existed for as long as history has been recorded. We have only just now decided to come out of the shadows, so to speak. We have asked the government for assistance in making our presence known.”
I had heard whispers about it, had plenty of firsthand experience with the immortals. Most people brushed them off as conspiracy theories, tabloid rumors, made up stories designed to sell crappy newspapers.
Ignorance is bliss.
I myself had felt the pull of the supernatural my whole life with my curse, excuse me, gifts.
“Hell, it’s the desert southwest, aren’t you supposed to burn up in the sun, isn’t the air too hot to breathe? You do breathe, don’t you?” Questions crowded my mind, took over the anger.
“First, it is true that the sun is deadly to vampires; I however am old enough to withstand a certain degree of sunlight. And to your second question, yes, my love, I do sometimes breathe. It is necessary to have air to speak. You, however, always manage to take my breath away.” He closed the distance between us.
“But you’re not alive, how do you function?” I rubbed my temples to fend off the headache throbbing there.
“I am not mortal, that is true. But do I look like death standing in front of you?” He replaced my hands at my temples. “I can assure you,” he whispered, “I am fully functional.” A single dimple winked as the corner of his mouth twitched into a grin. “I may not have all the same needs that you have, but I am here, talking to you.” He let his hands slide around me, his voice softened. “I am holding you.”
I stepped back enough to look up into his eyes. “So you didn’t drink my blood to turn me into…” I gestured my hands toward him, “…vampire?”
“One day, perhaps, I will tell you the process of becoming a vampire. It was a thing of violence for me, I did not choose this.” He tilted his head. “Will you condemn me for a choice that I did not make?”
I had more questions than answers but I couldn’t walk away, I didn’t want to walk away. He was right. He didn’t choose this. He was attacked. Could I have blamed him if he’d been inflicted with cancer or injured in an accident? I closed the small distance between us. I wanted to be with him.
I whispered, “I’ll have to be more careful of your fangs.” I raised up on my tiptoes and pressed my mouth to his. He took a deep, almost gasping breath and pulled me tighter to him.
Chapter Ten
Letters written in runes were found in various places within the tight-knit community of the reservation for several days. The sun, a symbol of power, now accompanied the original symbols. Encrypted messages for which I had yet to discover the complete meaning.
I paced inside the squad-room lounge while officers either starting or ending their shift drank coffee and swapped stories with the background noise of the all-news channel playing on the small television suspended in the corner of the room. Wilson was, no doubt, getting his ass chewed off by Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett. Word was spreading about the murders here and the politicians were getting jumpy. Politicians got nervous and Chief Burnett got his ass chewed out. Chief Burnett got his ass chewed out and Captain Wilson got his ass chewed out.
Shit rolls down hill. Ain’t democracy great?
I pretended to focus on the television news to avert conversation. I may have been a cop once, but I was a private detective now. Cops don’t usually like anyone else treading on their ground. The anchorman used a Halloween story to segue into the latest information on the supernatural community and their quest for citizenship.
“Hey, Wolfe?” Roy Hustuss called. He was older and somewhat overweight cop with twenty-three years on the force. The buttons of his uniform strained against his stomach. Powdered sugar dotted the front of his shirt, no doubt from the last doughnut he’d devoured. He had a closed mind and a big mouth. I cringed.
“What do you think about all this hocus-pocus shit? Are the boogeymen really going to get legal citizenship?” A chorus of laughter broke out among him and his fellow stooges.
I walked toward the door. I was not in the mood to get into a conversation with Hustuss.
He stepped in front of the door, effectively blocking my exit. “Well?”
I rolled my eyes heavenward in a plea for patience. “I guess that’s up to the politicians, Hustuss.”
“I guess that would make you a citizen then too, huh? I mean, you’d qualify as a non-human.”
Laughter broke out again and I took advantage of the moment to make a quick exit. I couldn’t resist and called out over my shoulder.
“Maybe the assholes will apply for citizenship too, Hustuss. There’s hope for you yet.” Just as quick as that his stooges turned on him with shouts of laughter and putdowns. I could feel him glare at me as I strode down the hallway.
I could hear Commissioner Burnett through the closed door to Wilson’s office. I checked my watch. They’d been going at it for over half an hour now. It couldn’t last much longer.
Wilson’s door flew open as I turned and Commissioner Burnett practically knocked me on my ass. I grabbed onto his arm to keep from falling and was met with
a pair of very green, very angry eyes.
“I’ve got my eye on you too, Wolfe.” I dropped my hand as Burnett turned and walked across the squad room. I flipped a one-finger salute to his back and walked into Wilson’s office.
“Please tell me you’ve found something, anything, I can give to the Commissioner to shed some light on this case,” Wilson begged. He sat back in his chair with is coffee cup in hand. He brought it to his mouth, then cursed. “It’s cold.”
I took the cup from his hand, dumped it in his garbage and refilled it from the pot on his credenza. “I’ve interpreted the runes, cross referenced with similar crimes for the past twenty years.” I handed him the coffee.
“Thanks,” he grumbled.
“The new symbol, the sun, represents power. It appears with the same symbols we’ve seen on the others. Family, death, war, and now, power.”
“What about Nightwalker? Rumor has it you’ve been spending some time with him.”
I nodded. “I’ve spoken with him about this many times over the past several days. He doesn’t seem to know any more than we do.”
What I could tell him would wait for a more private location. I didn’t need Wilson blowing up in his office, especially with Burnett nearby.
Wilson set his coffee on his desk blotter. “Is something going on between you two?” A smile creased the corners of his eyes.
I opened my mouth, closed it again. I blinked long and hard. “What makes you think…?”
“He refers to you as ‘my love’.” He cleared his throat. “And I quote ‘my love has contacted me and I will cooperate fully with the investigation’ unquote.” He made little quotation marks with his fingers as he tried to conceal the smirk on his face. He failed miserably.
I sank down into the chair. “It’s annoying as hell. No matter how many times I tell him it’s ‘Leah’ he insists on calling me that.” I sighed.
Wilson smiled and cocked his head. “You’re flattered.”
I looked up at him. “Shit.” I blew out a breath. “Yeah, I guess I am.” I wagged my finger at him. “But if you say that to anyone else…”
He held his hands up in a surrender motion. “Relax, your secret’s safe with me.” He laughed.
“Hell Wilson, how can I not be flattered. He acts like I’m special.” I shook my head. “He opens doors for me, sends me flowers and listens, really listens to me. Hell, he’s probably the most attentive man I’ve ever been with. It’s hard not to be flattered.”
“You are special, Leah.” He stood and walked over to me. “Joaquín didn’t deserve you. He gave you a rough time. Give yourself a break. You deserve the best.”
“I can’t give a man a normal relationship, Wilson.”
“And what exactly is a ‘normal relationship’?” he pondered.
“I can’t be someone he can count on. Hell, I couldn’t even get through my last date without a murder investigation interrupting it. The guy practically puked on the body. Men want someone normal, not the supernatural shit that dominates my life.” Of course, the fact that Ian was part of the supernatural shit should have played into this. I just didn’t know how, and Wilson didn’t know Ian was a vampire. Yet.
“There is nothing wrong with you, Leah,” he scolded.
“You’re just saying that because you got saddled with me.”
Anger flashed in his eyes. “We did not get ‘saddled’ with you. Our only regret is that we didn’t find you sooner, before…”
I looked into his sincere eyes. “I know, I’m sorry. I made peace with my past, mostly because you and Alli helped me.”
“Leah, all Alli and I want is to see you happy. Whatever it is that makes you happy. Think about it.” He kissed my cheek. “Now, until then, get your ass out there and help me find a killer. I don’t want Burnett in here reaming me a new one again.” Wilson took a deep breath and continued.
“Leah?” Wilson gave me the look that told me he was all serious.
“Yeah?”
“Be happy.”
“Yes sir.” I smiled and gave him a mock salute.
Be happy. Sounded simple. I investigated supernatural crimes, I had abilities I’d spent most of my life trying to hide, the man I was supposed to marry had shunned me because of my supernatural abilities after he cheated on me with someone else who ended up dead.
My new boyfriend was a vampire, a very sexy vampire who could calm my inner turmoil just by being near me. That was my life, simple as hell.
Chapter Eleven
“What the hell is a shapeshifter?” Wilson paced circles around the kitchen table as Alli and I sat drinking coffee.
“She turns into a wolf.” I squared my shoulders for the oncoming argument.
“So I’m supposed to believe that this woman turns into a wolf. Bullshit,” he boomed, slamming his hand onto the table.
Alli gave a long-suffering sigh. “We’ve known there was something more in this world than humans since Leah came into our lives.” She gave me a light squeeze. “Do not mock her, Charles Wilson.” It was never a good sign when Alli called him “Charles”.
He glared at her across the table, all six foot three of angry Wilson. She narrowed her blue eyes at him, hands on her hips. I’d never seen her intimidated by him, but his shoulders dropped.
“You’re right.” He sighed. “It just makes the case that much harder. I don’t know anything about these things.”
“Hello? I do paranormal. Nothing is more paranormal than immortal beings.”
He turned to me. “I don’t want you involved in this anymore, Leah. We don’t know what these things are capable of.”
“Paranormal is what I do. You can’t keep me from this.”
“The hell I can’t. I won’t risk your safety. You are off the case!” He smacked his fist to the table again.
“Are you firing me?” I challenged incredulously.
“If that’s what it takes.” He turned his glare to me. It didn’t work on me any more than it did on Alli.
I’d faced vampires and shapeshifters before but I wasn’t about to worry Alli or Wilson with that right now. I was sworn to secrecy by people who could make my life very, very difficult if they chose to.
“I’ve spent my career working with cops on murder, missing children and serial killer cases. I’ve seen things that even nightmares can’t create. I’ve stood inches from the face of a serial killer and put a bullet in his head before he could make me his next victim. I can take care of myself. You know that. You can’t take me off this case Wilson. I’ll work on it privately for Ian if I have to.”
His mouth fell open. “You’ll … what?” he stammered. “How does he know all this anyway. Is he a werething, too?” He turned back into a cop, face neutral yet demanding.
“No, he’s not a shapeshifter.” I looked away for a fraction of a second, but Wilson noticed.
“What aren’t you telling me, Leah?” He leaned in, keeping his palms flattened to the table and bringing his face closer to mine.
“He is not a shapeshifter.” Aw hell, I felt like I was in high school again and telling them about a bad grade or a new boyfriend I knew they wouldn’t approve of.
Alli put her hand over mine. “Leah, honey. We love you. You know that nothing will change that. Just tell us.”
I sighed, long and heavy. “Vampire, Ian is a vampire.”
The table shuddered as both his large hands slapped down on it. “A fucking murderous bloodsucker!”
“Charles!” Alli admonished. “Language.”
Wilson and I could and did talk like the proverbial sailor when Alli wasn’t around. When she was though, there was only so far we could go before she got pissed, excuse me, angry.
“I don’t want my daughter around them.” His voice grew quiet. “You are my daughter, Leah. The fact that you weren’t born of my blood doesn’t make it any less true.”
I stood and reached my arms over the table to wrap around his neck. “I love you too, Wilson. You’re my family, mor
e than I could have ever dreamt of.”
“I feel a ‘but’ coming on here.” Some of the tension left him.
“But…” I continued, “this is what I do. Maybe this is the reason I was cursed with these abilities. I’ll be cautious and I would like your support on this, but I’m going to do it either way.”
“You are not cursed, Leah, you are gifted.”
“Then back me up on this. Let me put this…” I motioned my hands around my body, “whatever it is that I have, to good use.”
Wilson grudgingly agreed to keep me on the case as long as I gave him daily reports. With that settled, Alli insisted we have a late dinner and get a good night of rest. I slept like the dead, no pun intended, and awoke late in the afternoon to the smell of fresh coffee. A reason to get out of bed.
Alli stood at the kitchen counter, coffeepot poised in her hand. She poured a cup and handed it to me with a kiss on the cheek. “Wilson loves you very much. He just wants you to be safe.”
“I know, Alli. I have to do my job though. This curse…”
“Gift,” she interrupted.
“Fine, this gift, I can use it for good. God must have given it to me for some reason. I can’t pretend it isn’t there.”
“He doesn’t want you not to use your gifts. He’s just uneasy with the news that immortals are in our small corner of the world.” She brushed a piece of hair from my eyes.
I set my cup down and hugged her fiercely. “It’s a smaller world every day, isn’t it?”
She gave me one last quick squeeze; then handed me my coffee cup. “Drink this and go take a shower. You have work to do today.”
Chapter Twelve
I closed my front door behind me, grateful to be back home. I went to the windows and closed the blinds to the darkness of night. I had other clients besides the police department that were depending on me.
I started a fresh pot of coffee in the kitchen; then headed for my office. Mutual Fidelity was waiting for a report on an arson investigation that I’d been investigating for them. The insured, Marsha Hadley, claimed that the garage fire was accidental. The arson investigator’s report was inconclusive but then again, he didn’t have the authority to follow her and take a peek at the purchase agreement for the new car she’d bought with the insurance money a week before the “accidental” fire. The insurance company had been required to pay off the debt on the overused Chevy destroyed in the garage fire, leaving her free to use the insurance settlement to buy the new car. Hell, I didn’t have the authority either. That is one of the many attractive features of private work. No bureaucrats to tie my hands behind my back. Good for me, not so good for Marsha Hadley.
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