“Well, I’ve started taking a few classes at the University,” Meg told her.
“That’s great!” Audrey said, smiling. She scratched her head, tangling her already messy hair. “I was wondering if you’d answer a question for my friend.”
Meg nodded. “Of course,” she said. She glanced at Rose, staring once again at the bandage on Rose’s forehead. “Shouldn’t you be in a wheelchair?”
“Nope,” Rose said simply, offering no further explanation.
Audrey leaned against the desk. “Rose wanted to know if you knew…”
“How much my bill will be,” Rose interrupted, finishing the sentence.
Audrey scowled at her. “I thought you wanted to know…”
Rose cut her off again. “Can you tell me that?” she asked Meg.
Meg nodded and began typing into the computer. “Possibly. I should at least be able to tell you how much the ER portion will be. What is your name?”
“Rose Melanie Foster,” Rose answered.
Meg smiled kindly at Rose, although her gaze remained on the computer. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, by the way. I was a little worried when he brought you in last night. You were unconscious, and there was just so much blood.”
Rose raised an eyebrow. “So, you were here last night?”
She continued typing. “Yeah.”
“Then you saw the person who brought me in,” Rose stated.
Meg grinned. “Pardon the lack of professionalism, but he was hot."
Audrey raised her eyebrow. “Really?” she asked excitedly. “How hot?”
Rose rolled her eyes at Audrey’s eagerness. “Did he give you his name?”
Meg frowned. “Honestly, I don’t remember him mentioning a name, but I’m sure we asked. That is really strange, actually. I don’t even remember asking.”
“Is it on the report or anything?” Audrey asked.
Meg glanced back at the screen as she pulled up the report. “No,” she answered, frowning. “That’s weird. It doesn’t mention him at all.”
“Okay,” Audrey said, drawing out the word in confusion.
“Describe him to me,” Rose requested.
“Tall. Very tall. Sexy. Long hair. Black clothes. Tattoos,” Meg listed.
Rose grimaced. “Yeah. That sounds like the guy from the restaurant.”
“Arrogant-Jerk-Hero?” Audrey asked. “You didn’t tell me he was sexy.”
Rose stared at Audrey blankly. “That’s because it’s irrelevant.”
“Okay, this is really weird,” Meg announced as she scanned the screen, her brows furrowing. “There’s so much left blank in this report. It says that your bill has already been paid, but there are no details concerning the who or how.”
“Huh, that is weird,” Audrey agreed. She glanced at Rose and asked, “Do you think that Tall-Sexy-Arrogant-Heroic-Jerk-Guy might’ve paid your bill?”
Rose raised her eyebrow at the ever-lengthening name. “Why would he do that? I mean, he did give me a huge tip, so it’s possible he has the money…”
“Call me crazy, but this guy isn’t really sounding like a jerk,” Audrey said.
“That’s only because she called him sexy,” Rose informed Audrey.
“Am I losing my mind?” Meg asked suddenly.
“I’m not sure we’re qualified to answer that,” Rose answered.
“This has my signature, but I don’t remember this at all,” Meg continued.
“Well, that’s creepy,” Audrey muttered.
Meg shook her head. “This is my handwriting. Why don’t I remember?”
Rose frowned, not sure what to think. “Did you hit your head, too?”
Meg scowled at Rose. “No.”
“We should get you home,” Audrey told Rose, pulling her by the arm.
“Thanks, Meg! It was nice to meet you!” Rose called as Audrey dragged her through the door and outside into the hot afternoon sun.
As soon as they were outside, Audrey turned back toward Rose. “Why do you think I didn’t see the man who saved you in my dream?”
Rose shrugged. “I have no idea,” she admitted.
Audrey frowned thoughtfully. “Did he seem to know your attacker?”
Rose considered that for a moment, recalling the night again. “Well, I don’t think they were friends, but yes, they did seem to know each other. I think they might’ve, um, known the same girl. In the biblical sense, I mean.”
Audrey raised her eyebrow. “And how exactly do you know this?”
“The way they were talking,” Rose answered.
“So, wait, does that mean you remember everything?” Audrey asked.
“It’s all starting to come back to me,” Rose confirmed. “We need to go.”
Audrey frowned at the urgency in Rose’s voice. “Why?”
“Because I have a lot of questions I need answered,” Rose said.
Swords and Fangs
Audrey placed her hand on her hip. “This is not resting.”
Rose glanced up from the scrolls and books that were spread out across the table to find Audrey standing in the doorway of the empty classroom. She straightened the small, black reading glasses that set crooked on her nose and returned to scanning one of the many books in front of her.
“Relax. I’m not going to rip open my stitches by reading,” Rose said.
Audrey sighed and stepped into the room, depositing a half-empty box of donuts on the table. “You should be at home in bed, eating chicken soup.”
“I have a concussion, Audrey, not the flu,” Rose muttered.
Audrey scowled as she noticed something familiar about the maps and artwork on the beige walls of the classroom. She glanced around, noticing the familiar arrangement of desks and the large, wooden podium at the front of the classroom, in front of a long white board. “Have I been in here before?”
“I doubt it,” Rose answered without looking up from her books. Her long, red hair, still wet from the shower she’d just taken, fell forward, leaving damp spots on her blue button-down shirt. “Dr. Parker teaches all of the Ancient Civilization classes in this room. It’s used mostly for upper level history classes.”
Audrey continued to frown. “It looks so familiar. It’s like déjà vu.”
“That’s weird,” Rose said as she jotted down something in her notebook.
Audrey shrugged and dragged a chair over to the table with Rose. She sunk down at the table and opened the box of donuts. “I brought donuts,” she announced as she picked up one of them. “I already ate most of them, though.”
Rose laughed. “I’m good. I’m on a diet, remember?”
“But they’re jelly donuts,” Audrey objected.
Rose looked up at Audrey, her brows furrowing. “So?”
“So, they’re technically fruit, right?” she asked as she bit into the donut.
“Yeah, I don’t think it works that way,” Rose said.
Audrey shrugged and took another bite of the donut, not even bothering to wipe off the large glob of red jelly that dropped onto her thin, pink hoodie.
“You can go on if you need to,” Rose said as she returned her attention to the book in front of her. “I know you still have to pack for the weekend.”
“I don’t know if you’ve forgotten, but someone attacked you last night on your way home. I’m not letting you walk home again tonight,” Audrey said.
“I could have brought my own car, if you’d just let me,” Rose muttered.
Audrey rolled her eyes. “The doctor hasn’t okayed you to drive yet.”
“I feel fine,” Rose said bitterly as she flipped open another oversized book and began thumbing through it, searching for something helpful.
“Why can’t you do this at home?” Audrey asked.
“There’s no room in that apartment for all of these books,” Rose said.
Audrey glanced at the fifteen or so oversized books scattered across the long wooden table. “There’s no room anywhere for this many books. If
you ask me, it shouldn’t even be legal for one person to check out so many.”
“I didn’t ask you,” Rose said, flashing a sarcastic smile at her.
Audrey stuck her tongue out at Rose. She sighed and wiped her sticky hands on her jeans. “I guess I could go home and pack and then come back later to pick you up. I was already planning a midnight run for ice cream anyway.”
Rose laughed at her friend’s junk-food obsession. “Only if you’re sure that won’t be an inconvenience for you,” she said. “I really don’t mind walking.”
“You’re not walking,” Audrey stated. “I’ll come back and get you, okay?”
“If you’re sure,” Rose said again as she wrote something in her notebook.
Audrey sighed and slid her chair back. She grabbed the nearly empty box of donuts and glanced down at Rose. “Promise me that you’ll be careful.”
Rose looked up and flashed a cute smile at her friend. “Now, if I did that, how would I carry out my brilliant plan of hunting down Dracula and asking him to drink my blood?” she teased, adopting a cheesy, fake accent for the last part.
Audrey narrowed her eyes. “Not funny.”
—
Kallias found himself standing in that back alley near the café for the second time that night. He knew the woman wasn’t inside the café. He would have recognized her scent if she’d been there. Still, he hated that he kept finding himself back there. He certainly didn’t want to run into her again. But this was the last place that he had seen Theron. It was the only starting place he had.
He stared at the dark stains on the pavement. Blood stains. He’d almost left to circle the city again when he noticed movement in the shadows, near a wooden fence that separated a residential neighborhood from the strip mall that housed the café. He closed his eyes and inhaled, noticing the pungent scents of food, car exhaust, trash, and…a vampire. He opened his eyes and glared at the moving figure. He kept to the shadows, close to the brick building next to him, as he inched toward the vampire, careful not to let his heavy black boots thud against the pavement. He’d almost reached the fence when his phone vibrated.
The vampire straightened at the sound, and she looked at him with wide brown eyes before she leapt over the fence and disappeared into the night.
Kallias growled in frustration and shoved his hand into his pocket. He pulled out the phone and answered it without even checking the caller ID.
“Damn it, Erik, you have the worst timing,” Kallias snarled.
“Aww…I miss you, too,” Erik quipped on the other side of the line.
Kallias rolled his eyes. “Shouldn’t you be busy right now?”
The sound of a car buzzing past and the quiet giggle of a female filled the line. “I am…kind of…” Erik chuckled. “So, have you killed Theron yet?”
“I’d be on my way home if I had,” Kallias said. “Guess where I am?”
“Not on your way home?” Erik guessed.
In the background, Kallias heard a female voice telling Erik goodbye and then the heavy thud of the front door closing. He rolled his eyes as he waited.
“Hey, I told you I’d help if you needed me,” Erik said after she left.
“What would be the point? If you’d come here with me, you would just be doing the same thing here that you’re doing there,” Kallias grumbled.
“What?” Erik asked. He sounded genuinely ignorant.
“Flirting with women,” Kallias said, “and sleeping with them, I’m sure.”
Silence filled the line for a moment. “You know me well.”
Kallias rolled his eyes. “A stranger could’ve guessed that.”
Erik laughed. “Hey, I have a talent. Not everyone can mix work and pleasure. You sure as hell can’t. I mean, how long has it been since you had sex?”
“Too long,” Kallias muttered as he noticed something move in the trees.
“So, what happened last night?” Erik asked. “I thought you had a lead.”
“I did,” Kallias said into the phone as he stepped back into the shadows so that the person in the trees wouldn’t see him. He lowered his voice. “I did find Theron last night, actually. I even managed to injure him pretty severely.”
Erik was quiet for a moment. “So, then…why didn’t you kill him?”
“He had other vampires helping him. They attacked me,” Kallias said.
“What vampire in his right mind would agree to help Theron?” Erik asked.
“A vampire that doesn’t want to die,” Kallias answered. He laughed. “Of course, that didn’t really work out for them because they still died, just at my hands, instead of his. I am not sure they fully appreciated the mercy of that.”
“Why didn’t you go after Theron once you’d killed them?” Erik asked curiously. “He should have been an easy target for you if he was injured.”
Kallias sighed, “I had to deal with a distraction.”
Erik laughed. “Distraction, huh? Was she hot?”
Kallias rolled his eyes. “Why do you assume the distraction was a she?”
“Am I wrong?” Erik asked expectantly.
“It wasn’t like that,” Kallias muttered. “I had to take her to the hospital.”
“Dang, Kallias, you can’t be that rough with humans,” Erik joked.
“Funny,” Kallias muttered sarcastically. “Theron attacked her. She was unconscious and bleeding. Who knows what would’ve happened if I’d left her?”
“But you didn’t answer my question,” Erik complained. “Is she hot?”
“She’s the most annoying human I’ve ever met,” Kallias answered.
Erik laughed, “I knew it. You’re attracted to her.”
“I’m speaking English, right? Because that’s not what I said,” Kallias said.
“Is she blonde?” Erik asked, ignoring Kallias’s objection. “Brunette?”
Kallias rolled his eyes at his friend’s mixed-up priorities. “Neither.”
“She’s a redhead, then?” Erik continued. “Not my type, but…”
“Erik,” Kallias interrupted. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Of course,” Erik said. “I should let you get back to not killing Theron.”
Kallias scowled. “Fuck you.”
“No, thanks,” Erik said.
Kallias rolled his eyes. “Bye, Erik.”
He turned off the phone and slid it back into his pocket, narrowing his eyes as a woman emerged from the trees and started walking toward him.
“Is someone there?” the woman called as she neared the alley.
Kallias stepped out of the shadows, watching as the tall, slender woman froze in shock. The flickering streetlight behind her cast an orange glow on her chin-length, perfectly styled brown hair. Her short khaki skirt revealed long, tanned legs, and her green sleeveless shirt accented the golden specks in her hazel eyes. Those hazel eyes dilated lustfully as they traveled up and down his body.
“Wow,” she breathed. Then, she stepped forward, joining him in the dark alley, and she asked, loudly, this time, “Why were you hiding back here?”
Kallias continued to glare at the woman. “I was hiding for your benefit, not mine,” he said, watching her suspiciously. “I’m not in a good mood tonight.”
“Oh,” she said, obviously disappointed. “Maybe I could help?”
“I doubt it,” Kallias said rudely. He stepped toward her, causing her to stumble backward. “Although…I do need you to answer one question for me.”
Her hazel eyes darted toward the fence. “Uh…o-okay,” she stammered.
He leaned down close to her. “Who told you to hide in those trees?”
She paled. “I…I just… I’m supposed to watch for someone.”
“Who?” Kallias asked. “Rose Foster?”
She nodded nervously. “He said there’d be someone else here. Is it you?”
“No,” Kallias told her. “The other person ran. You should, too.”
The woman offered him a smile. “W
hy would I do that?”
Kallias grasped her wrist and jerked her forward, until her body collided with his. His hands tight around her arms, he leaned down and sniffed her neck. “Because I smell his scent in your blood,” he growled. “You’re bound to him.”
Her heart raced. She pulled back, her eyes wide and frightened.
He took control of her mind with his telepathic control. “Tell me who you are, why you are here, and anything that you know about Theron.”
Her hazel eyes changed, becoming blank and emotionless. “My name is Lori. I met a strange man last night. He had blood all over him. He bit me and drank my blood. I was dying, so he forced me to drink his blood so that it would heal me. He told me that I could feel what I felt last night every night as long as I did as he asked. He told me to watch the café all day and report back to him if I saw Rose Foster. He said that another vampire would meet me here later.”
“Is that all?” Kallias asked.
“I know who you are. You’re Kallias,” she said. She pulled a dagger out of her small green purse and held it up to show him. “I’m supposed to stab you.”
Kallias glanced down at the dagger in her hand. He smiled. “Yeah, you won’t be doing that,” he told her as he twisted the dagger out of her grasp. He released her arm and stepped back. He brushed past her as he started to leave.
The woman stumbled backward, rubbing her head as she regained control of her mind. “What did you do to me?” she asked, confused by the disoriented haze in her mind. Her eyes widened. “Hey! Wait! You can’t leave!”
“I assure you that I can,” Kallias muttered as he continued walking away.
The woman ran after him, nearly falling in her high heels. She managed to catch up with him before he reached the street. She grasped the corner of his leather jacket to pull him back toward her. Kallias could have kept walking. He knew a human wasn’t strong enough to actually pull him to a stop, but not wanting to hurt the woman, he sighed and stopped, turning back toward her.
“I need to do what he told me to do,” the woman told him.
He shrugged one shoulder. “That’s your problem, sweetheart, not mine.”
She stared at him, her eyes wide. “You’re like him, aren’t you?”
The Stone of the Eklektos Page 12
