“Either we need to train you not to vamp out at the smell of blood, or else you can’t come with me to crime scenes.”
“Emmy said her people were making concentrated blood packets of some sort like the hydro. I may be able to carry one with and have a drop or two to keep control in situations like that. I’m so sorry I lost it back there. Thank you for helping me. It was getting hard not to chomp on someone, and the Detective was looking tasty.”
I laughed a little; Darcy stared at me and then laughed a little too. Her smile was all human as her fangs retracted. I sat down on the step next to her.
“That didn’t hurt like I thought it would.”
“Vampire saliva has a painkiller in it along with a euphoric. Between them and our pheromones, people actually enjoy being bitten. Besides that was only your wrist, it’s much more intimate and enjoyable to drink from the neck, or other places. The saliva also has an anticoagulant to keep the blood flowing. As soon as we stop drinking and the saliva dries, the wounds heal almost instantly. Other than the loss of blood, you can’t really tell you gave blood.”
“That explains that, but let’s not make it a habit.”
“You don’t taste that good anyway,” she joked.
“Ha ha ha. Real funny. You feel good enough to go back?”
“Alright.”
We rejoined the others. No one said a word about our absence. We knelt back down and sifted through the evidence bags again. I stopped, holding up a bag that had a driver’s license in it.
“Holy shit!”
“What is it? You find something?” Ren leaned over my shoulder to look.
“I’ve seen this girl before, and this license.”
“Where?”
“Tanaka’s home movies.”
* * *
We called and found Tanaka had gone home. It only took us an hour to reach his apartment through traffic. He looked shocked opening the door to the four of us.
“What was it I could help you with?”
“We need your home movies, the one you showed me before to start with.”
He looked thoroughly confused, but just shrugged and offered us inside. “Uh, al-alright, sure, come on in.”
His place was spotless as always. Darcy stopped and stepped back outside to kick off the snow from her shoes before setting foot inside. I glanced at her, she shrugged, I rolled my eyes. Tanaka dug in his closet a minute and came back with a handful of disks. He handed me one.
“This is the one I had on for you the other day.”
I handed it to Julie. “Can you search the disk for a match of the license we found earlier.”
She nodded and took the disk from me. Tanaka, like the rest of us thought she was going to use the DVD player. He held up the remote for her and his jaw dropped. She had a small mirror in her left hand and the disk upside down in her right. The disk spun by itself on her finger. The blue inverted triangle on her forehead was emitting a blue laser at the disk, which bounced off the disk to the mirror and then into her eyes.
So much for the DVD player.
“The girl appears on this disk three times. Identity confirmed as Hillary Parker.”
“Hill?! What’s going on?”
“We found her I.D. at the last crime scene,” I blurted out without thinking.
Tanaka collapsed into the chair at the table. He looked shocked.
“The gentleman appears on the disk once,” Julie announced.
“Gentleman?”
“Herbert Franklin. His I.D. was also at the last crime scene.”
TA DA!!! We have a clue!
“Julie reference all the people on each disk with the known and believed I.D.’s of the other victims. If we can find a few more then we may have a link between the victims. A real live lead!” I declared with glee.
Darcy was suddenly beside me pulling unceremoniously on my elbow. I turned to look questioningly at her. She had a disgusted look on her face, and angled her eyes while she pointed with her chin. I glanced at where she had indicated. Tanaka had collapsed into the chair at the breakfast table, white as a sheet. His eyes stared off into the distance, not looking at anything at all but a memory. Ren had knelt next to him with one hand on his knee, and the other stroking his hair as she whispered soft comforting words to him. It was a move done by loved ones. She whispered to him, but he never responded.
The next thing I knew, Darcy edged me back out the front door. Darcy gently closed the door behind us and we were suddenly standing outside in the January snow. Neither of us talked as what I had just seen sunk in.
A girl Tanaka had shared with Vixen had just been brutally murdered, and I stood there ecstatically happy that we might have a lead? Why the hell am I so insensitive?
“Not the best at breaking bad news, are you?” Darcy asked behind a small smile.
“I, I guess I never stopped to think. I just wanted to get back at those bastards so much. . . .”
“Anyone would. It’s normal. Besides, you weren’t as bad as Marsala was. He tried to break it to me gently that my family had been slaughtered by a gang of rogue vampires, but he just blurted out that I had become one. He said it like it was entirely natural for me to lose my humanity and become a vamp. Like it was something I did every day. That was an interesting conversation.”
“Oh Darcy. I’m sorry, I had no idea.”
“Sorry for what? Look, I already made peace with myself over what happened. It’s no big deal anymore. Besides, it’s not like I really miss them or anything. Both my father and brother abused me nightly, and my mother stood there and watched never saying a word because she was scared of the beating my father would’ve given her if she did. Really, I’m kind of glad to be rid of them. I do miss Marsala though.”
“That’s my fault.”
“Nope. I know all about that. Marsala broke your trust and lied to the Council. He deserved to be punished for that. I just wish he had been able to stay for Christmas though. We were supposed to celebrate together.”
“Shit. Now I feel even worse.”
“Don’t. You’ve had the worse time of all of us the last few months, more or less. Besides, Ren can do as good of job cheering up Tanaka as anyone. She is his girlfriend after all.”
I glanced in though the parted curtains at them. Ren was holding Tanaka as he was bent over and cried in her arms. They looked like they belonged together at that moment.
“Yea, I suppose that she is. It never donned on me to even attempt to make him feel better. But she went straight to his side, like a lover should.”
“Too bad he used you the way he did. I’d never be able to forgive him the way you have.”
“What?! What are you talking about?”
Her eyes went wide enough to explode as her skin paled. “You didn’t know? Oh, shit! I never should have even brought it up. I’m sorry.”
“Spill it,” I growled at her. “I’m finally starting to trust you. Don’t give me a reason not to like you now. Tell me everything you know.”
“The vodka smoothies were a setup.”
Dammit! I knew it! How could I’ve been so stupid?!
“Tanaka knew about New Years. Ren told him about your vodka adventure. Which was quite a revealing story by the way. He gave you vodka on purpose so that he could get you to loosen up around him.”
“You mean so that he could fuck me!”
She threw up her hands in surrender once I yelled at her. “No. According to him, you still had your mind set in guy mode. He wanted to get you a little drunk so you would loosen up and enjoy his company. The sex was a bonus, sort of. He said that you were giving him all these signals. Like touching yourself under your skirt as you watched him. He thought you really wanted sex. So, once you were a little drunk, he seduced you to seal the deal.”
My blood boiled with fury. I was suddenly angry at the world. But, mostly angry with myself. My bumbling around had led him on unintentionally.
Darcy reached out touching my shoulder gently, “I t
hought they had already told you. They all acted like you knew and had forgiven him for it, when I heard about it this morning.”
I glared at her and she gasped pulling back from me.
“No. No one bothered to tell me anything. They all just let me be the butt of their joke,” I hissed through clenched teeth.
“No one meant to hurt you.”
“They never do.”
With that we stood out in the snow watching the sunset in silence. The cold drove the anger out of my system slowly. It seemed to take forever before I could speak without growling in rage.
“Thank you for telling me,” I finally whispered to myself.
“You’re welcome. I just wish you had found out under different circumstances.”
My eyes flew open to meet hers. She was leaning against the doorjamb ten feet away staring off into the sunset. The glowing light reflecting off her golden eyes reminded me of what she was.
Damn vampire enhancements! She wasn’t supposed to hear that.
“So, are Ren and Tanaka together now then?”
She turned her golden eyes to meet mine as she spoke, “Yea, they’ve spent a lot of time together since this case of yours started. The whole thing has her really spooked. Not that I blame her. Honestly I’m surprised you’ve kept it together as well as you have.”
“I tried to kill everyone in my sleep remember? That isn’t exactly keeping it together.”
“I had nightmares for weeks after my attack. Though I don’t remember anything at all that happened that night, I still have nightmares about it. You on the other hand, went through a living nightmare I can’t even begin to fathom. If all you ended up with are a few months of sleepless nights after that, well I consider that lucky.”
“Sleepless nights? Darcy, they took my arm! And my eye! They ruined my entire body! I’m a disgusting freak!”
She pushed off the wall with her shoulder. A blink of an eye later she threw her arms out and rushed me. I threw up my arms in defense as I tripped over my own feet and landed on my butt in the snow. Slowly opening my eyes I met hers only inches from mine. Her eyes had bled through, leaving glowing blood-red orbs in their place. I glanced down and saw her fangs dripping against my shirt. Then I noticed her body was floating. It was as if she had stopped in mid-flight as she moved in to bite out my throat.
“You have no room to speak of freaks! Look! Look at me! Look at what I have become!” she roared into my face.
Fear flooded my senses. I sat there in the snow shivering from not just the cold. Seconds passed with me staring into her mouth at those fangs ready to suck my life away. Slowly her body floated to the ground until she was kneeling with a leg on each side straddling me, with her face still inches from mine. Her breath was incredibly hot at that short distance.
Something inside me suddenly changed. The fear left me, and I felt sorry for her without feeling sorry for myself anymore. It was like Yuric’s voice trick that he had pulled on me those times weeks ago. I moved my gaze from her fangs to her eyes. Even through the bloody orbs I could see the hurt and wanting in her. The desperate need to be seen as something other than a monster. That had been how I had felt only moments before.
She wants to be accepted just like I do. We both want to be human again.
My body took over from my mind as the left hand still wrapped in its glove came up and pulled at the turtleneck. My fingers tightened as they moved the fabric away baring the good side of my neck to her. I tilted my head away giving her a clear access to my jugular.
“What are you doing?” she asked me in a normal voice.
“Offering an apology.”
She rocked back on her heels staring at me. The bloody glow faded from her eyes, and the fangs slipped back into regular teeth. Then she smiled at me.
“We really are freaks aren’t we?”
“S’pose so. I just need time to adjust to everything, again.”
“I don’t think we ever will adjust fully. It just doesn’t work out that way in my life.”
“Mine either.”
She rose to her feet in a liquid movement. Then held out her hand to me. She yanked me to my feet effortlessly. Once I was steady on my own boots, I threw my arms around her hugging her to me.
“You have no idea how much help you are with everything that’s going on.”
Darcy pulled back from my hug. “It’s all part of the job. Arkon said that your scars will heal in time. Just hold yourself together for a while, and things will be better. I promise. In time you won’t even really think of yourself as a freak. However, in the meantime you need to decide how you want to handle a few things. Like Tanaka for one.”
I looked past her into the window. Ren was setting on Tanaka’s lap with her arms around his neck. They were laughing in-between light kisses.
I guess she cheered him up after all. They look so happy now. Like a couple should.
“No,” I declared flatly. “Tanaka isn’t my problem. He sat me up and seduced me, but I gave him the wrong signals and allowed him to do it. I’m as much to blame as he is. No, I think I’ll just let Ren have him. They look good together, and I don’t want him as a lover anyway. It was just a fling that’s come and gone.”
“Will he still be your friend?”
“Yeah. I’m not going to hold it against him.”
“Damn, you’re weird. I would be going ballistic on his ass about now, not forgiving him in the least.”
I shrugged.
Julie opened the front door and stepped out in the snow, “I have identified six others from the disks that match the suspected identities of the recent victims.”
“The bastards are targeting Vixen’s old lovers.”
“So what, she got pissed at an old girlfriend and sent those monsters to slaughter her entire family?” Darcy asked.
GIRLFRIEND?!?! Oh God, Vicki!
“Julie contact DPN! Vicki’s in danger!”
Chapter 17
Vicki’s doll filled the image between Julie’s lightning filled hands. Her voice flowed from Julie’s lips as if it were her own.
“Miss Vicki is in the awther raawwm. She asked nawt taw be disturbed.”
“DPN this is an emergency! Vicki’s life is in danger! The immortals are targeting Vixen’s old lovers. They could be on their way right now for Vicki.”
“Awh my! I will infawrm her immediat–”
The picture broke into static.
“What happened?”
Julie dropped her hands, and the lightning static dispersed.
“I am sorry but the connection has been broken on the other end, and I am unable to reconnect with DPN.”
Darcy yanked her doll off her pants, holding it to her face. “Vampirina, emergency protocol! Get me DPN!”
The little vampire doll closed her eyes a second only to open them shaking her head, “I am sawrry my Mistress. DPN is naw lawnger available awn the netwawrk.”
“Not good. The only reason that the dolls wouldn’t be on the network for an emergency protocol contact is that they’ve been . . . destroyed,” Darcy swallowed hard.
“Julie, find Vicki NOW!”
Her eyes closed as Tanaka and Ren burst out of the apartment.
“What’s up? You find something?” Tanaka asked.
I turned to face them. They were holding hands like lovers and not trying to hide it. It brought a light smile to my heart.
They deserve to be happy with all that’s happened to them in the past. I hope it works out for them.
“The immortals are targeting Vixen’s old lovers, and we can’t get hold of Vicki.”
Ren’s face fell. “I’ll try the hospital, you call Ash. She might know where Vicki is.”
“I’ll call Mary and Emmy just to make sure they haven’t heard from her,” Tanaka announced as he reached in his pocket for his glasses.
I turned back to Julie. “Call Ash, she’s the Den Mother of the House of Lesser Cats.”
“Of course. I have her number. One
moment please.”
Julie closed her eyes a second then opened them halfway as a sound almost like a ringing phone gently came from her parted lips. The line clicked as the receiver was picked up. Julie’s eyes opened wide as heavy breathing came through the line.
“Uh, hello? . . . Ash? . . . This is Kieran, remember? . . . Vicki’s friend. . . . I’m looking for Vicki. . . . Have you heard from her tonight? . . .”
The only answer I got was that same heavy breathing. I started to ask another question when the voice from Julie’s lips froze my soul.
“BBUUUUUUURRRRRNNNNNN!!!”
I screamed as the nightmare visions of the immortals were suddenly surrounding me. Falling over my own feet I drew my guns at them. The guns came up at the same time as they each threw up their arms in surrender. The monster on my right dropped to its knees and crept towards me, lips moving without sound. The only thing I could hear was my own blood pumping thunderously loud in my ears. I aimed both my guns at the one creeping closer. It didn’t stop.
Then I saw its eyes. The dead eyes started to glow, a blood-red glow that filled the entire orb. Vampire eyes. The mouth opened to show the rotten teeth inside. Then the teeth changed, growing into vampire fangs.
Wait! The immortals didn’t have vampire fangs and eyes before.
As soon as I thought it, my vision began to clear. Darcy was on her hands and knees slowly moving towards me with her lips moving silently. Like my vision, my hearing came back to me.
“. . . are your friends. We won’t hurt you unless you make us. Just calm down and drop the guns. We’re your friends. Let us help you. You are in no danger here. We can protect you. Please jus–”
I dropped both guns in the snow and threw my open hands over my eyes as I tried to force the visions out of my head.
“Fine! I’m okay. I’m fine. Just fine. . . .”
Darcy kept crawling up until she could wrap her arms around me. As soon as I was cradled in her arms the floodgates opened. The fear left me one tear at a time.
* * *
By the time I gathered myself from terrified to enraged Julie pulled up in my Hummer.
Immortal Death (Kieran Grey Psionic Hunter Book 3) Page 16
