A tall woman with medium-length brown hair sauntered over to him. She wore a blue blazer with a short miniskirt and elegant blue heels. Guillermo ignored her, still scanning the club for Nadine.
She sniffed around him. Her eyes widened in surprise. “I smell Daddy.” She purred in his ear, “You’ve been with Nathan.”
“Good evening, Beth.”
Guillermo walked away, but Beth followed him. Beth had been a prosecuting attorney for Kansas City until a date with Nathan three years ago. She’d been turned—Nathan’s only victim. Beth embraced the change, killing two people on her first night as a member of the undead.
Guillermo had taken her under his wing. He had two choices, teach her the way of vampiro or destroy her. He brought Beth on as corporate attorney for his own holdings and those of other vampires in the city. At the time, Nathan’s remorse had been so great, Guillermo wanted to help Nathan. Unfortunately, Beth turned out to be more trouble than she was worth. She had a vicious streak, and sometimes Gui wished he had disposed of her.
“Oh,” she laughed. “I didn’t realize Daddy swung both ways!”
Guillermo stopped, grabbing her throat and pressing his lips to her ear. “Worry about business, conchuda,” he whispered. “My personal life is none of your concern.”
This time when he walked away, Beth didn’t follow. She merely watched him. A subtle smirk played upon her lips.
Guillermo couldn’t see Nadine in the main area of the club, so he checked the shadow rooms. The rooms were for high-paying customers who liked a little more variety than the average patron. The first two were empty, but the third room’s red light shone over the door. Guillermo unlocked the door and opened it a crack. A slender woman stood in the shadows before a muscular man who wore nothing except a leather chastity belt. He sat astride a bondage horse, just high enough to make him stand on his toes. Metal leg irons held his legs out at a slight angle. Thumb cuffs attached to both hands suspended him from a chain in the ceiling. His head hung down—whip marks and blood streaks decorated his chest.
The slender woman came out of the shadows, dressed in a skintight, hot pink, latex bodysuit, complemented with a matching leather half-hood executioner’s mask, and though she did not acknowledge Guillermo, he knew she sensed his presence.
She sauntered over to the side of the bondage horse and reached up to tweak the thumb cuffs. Guillermo watched as the man looked up, smiling, glory in his eyes. He could see her dark-red lips smile back. She reached toward the young man’s face as if she meant to caress it, then slapped him hard. His head flew back, face contorted in blissful pain. Guillermo narrowed his eyes.
“You are quite the artist, chica.”
She beamed at the approval. “Thank you, Guillermo.”
“We need to speak.”
Nadine nodded, stripped the hood from her head, revealing her long red hair and immediately fell into step behind Guillermo, leaving her client to his bondage.
They squeezed through the crowd and into Guillermo’s back office. The soundproof walls completely blocked out the hard, driving beat of the club. Guillermo sat behind his desk as Nadine took a seat on the couch.
“I did not tell you to sit.”
Anger flashed across her face as she stood. “What’s this about, Gui?”
Guillermo tapped a pen on the black marbled top of his desk and chewed his lower lip for a moment, before slamming his fist on the desk. “Why have you not told me about the killings?”
Nadine jumped but held her composure. “Well, you’re never around to fucking tell anything to!”
“Watch your tone, chica.”
Lowering her eyes, Nadine said, “I’m sorry. You have been at Nathan’s apartment all week, instead of here where you should be…”
Guillermo jumped to his feet. “Icierra el pico! Shut your filthy mouth!”
He was no longer angry with Nadine, alone. She spoke true. He had been neglecting his business, although it would not have been necessary for him to stay at Nathan’s if it weren’t for Nadine’s jealous nature. Less than two months earlier, the last night Nathan spent at the club, Nadine had attacked him in the shower, and the fight nearly killed her. Nathan proved his dominance over her, however, he had not wanted to risk her coming at him again. He wasn’t a killer, but with Nadine around, he might become one.
Guillermo fell upon Nadine, causing her to stumble backwards onto the lushly carpeted floor. “You are the reason I have not been around, chica.” A half-truth, but a truth all the same. “I am not a possession. I do not belong to you. You are mine to play with, keep or dispose of as I see fitting. Do not press me.”
Guillermo felt her emotions bear down upon him. Guillermo choked at the anguish pouring from her body. Nadine’s longing and desire to be dominated, injured, driven to painful pleasure, and her fear he would never touch her again, nearly overwhelmed him.
Ay Dios mio! My God! he thought, this is too hard. Guillermo went back to his desk, putting space between himself and his consanguinity. Nadine was of his youngest brother’s line, his lineage. He had found her in California nearly eighty years ago, the great, great, too many greats, granddaughter of Calderon Luis Perez, with most of the Spaniard bred out of her. He offered her immortality. She took it. Guillermo used to find her amusing, although, over the last decade as her pettiness grew, she had become more of an irritation.
Guillermo’s mother had been La Malinche, the purported traitor to Mexico, the woman who brought down the last Aztec emperor, Cuahtémoc, hailed in the history books as mestizo, mixed blood, and whore. Guillermo knew the truth. His mother had been given to the Spaniards as a gift, a slave to fulfill their every desire.
Is it any wonder she betrayed the Cholulans? They had stolen her from her parents to work as a slave for them, until they presented her to Hernán Cortez. After the Spaniards conquered Mexico, his mother had fled to an island off the coast of Texas. Guillermo smiled. His brief time with his mother and brothers had been a carefree time of youth. Now, his life, or un-death, carried much responsibility, and this included Nadine.
Guillermo gestured to the couch. “Asiento. Sit.”
Nadine scrambled to the black leather divan, looking as if she would crawl into the cushion if it were possible.
“Now, tell me what you know about the killings.”
“Luckily, the police have not as yet been able to identify the bodies and are not releasing any photographs to the press.” She spoke in a very business-like manner. Only a slight tremble gave away her trepidation. “A source from within the morgue gathered some snapshots of the victims and faxed them to Min…”
“Min?” Guillermo winced. Min, an Egyptian master vampire, a thousand years older than Gui, ran brothels and go-go clubs all over the Midwest and some of the west coast. The vampire had the ability to ensnare most all creatures, human, animal and vampire, into becoming enthralled with him. Min had held Guillermo as a plaything when Gui had been a fledgling vampire, until he had grown bored with him and cast him aside.
Guillermo spent nearly one hundred years learning how to put up barriers to avoid becoming spellbound again by any other master, and had become a master in the process. Thinking of the Egyptian vampire made him shiver… and not in a good way. The last Guillermo had heard, Min had taken up residence in Chicago. He could only hope the ancient vampire would not return to Kansas City. “Is he back in the city? What is his involvement in this?”
“The morgue attendant is one of his familiars. Two of the slain vampires were from his brood clan, minor players. Even so, they seem to mean a lot to Min. He is still in Illinois, not in the city… yet.” Nadine allowed a small smile. One look from Guillermo wiped it from her face.
“When is he coming?”
“Tomorrow.”
Guillermo grimaced. “And the third victim? Has he been identified as well?”
Nadine pursed her lips, blood-tinged tears pooling in her pale violet eyes.
Bad news.
“Albert
.”
Guillermo clenched his fists. “Albert?” Albert Morris worked for Guillermo as a cage dancer—a young vampire, no more than twenty years old, a submissive, and Nadine’s favorite plaything. “Why didn’t you call me?”
Dropping to the floor, Nadine prostrated herself in front of Guillermo. “I swear I was going to call. Tonight if you did not come in. He was killed last night. I just found out this evening.” She pushed at her tears, smudging her heavy black eyeliner. Her voice became cold, merciless. “I claim blood right. When this killer is found, I claim the right to make him suffer.”
Guillermo felt Nadine’s pain intensely and he understood. “Albert was yours, chica. He was mine as well. I grant you this right.”
If Min came to town, Guillermo would have to stay away from Nathan. He could not risk the distraction.
Chapter 9
The patient lobby, stuffed with the sick and injured, made Nathan gnash his teeth. One down, twenty to go. The next patient, a homeless man with frostbit toes, waited for him in the next examination room. He could not keep his mind on patients of late. He found it hard to concentrate on anything or anyone other than Guillermo. Tonight was no exception. After Gui abruptly left, he’d turned on the television. The reports of the Riverfront murders were on every local channel. The method of death pointed to vampires as victims and executioner.
“Hey, Nate. You need any help?” a man asked from behind him.
The voice belonged to Brian Reynolds, another doctor who worked in the emergency room. Only Brian called him Nate. “Hi, Brian. I could use a hand.” He pointed to the stack of charts piling up. “Where the hell have you been anyway?” Doctor Brian Reynolds, not much older than Nathan, wore a wrinkled short-waisted lab coat, an uneven tie, and he’d missed a button on his shirt.
Brian pushed his glasses up on his nose and winked. “Just made a little house call on Nurse Lily, if you know what I mean.” He waved his fingers in front of Nathan’s nose.
Brian, usually full of shit, actually smelled like Lily Graves. Even dogs get lucky sometimes. Nathan smiled tightly “Man, go wash your hands, then you can have the frostbit guy in the next room.” Asshole.
He’d never forgiven Brian for taking him to Corazon de la Muerte three years ago. If it hadn’t been for Brian, Nathan wouldn’t be a bloodsucker now. However, Brian always seemed to know what went on around the city. “Have you heard of the recent murders on the Riverfront?”
“Sure, who hasn’t. That shit’s been plastered all over the newspapers and there’s an update on the television every couple of hours. It’s a hot topic. I guess the police are being pretty tightlipped.”
“Can you find out who’s working the victims in this case?”
“Easy enough. Anna Murphy.”
“Who?” Nathan shook his head in disbelief. If Anna Murphy was the same Anna he was thinking of, it meant his ex-fiancée was back in town.
“Murphy. She just started working at the M.E. two weeks ago. I’ve taken a special interest in her, if you know what I mean?”
“I know exactly what you mean.” Jesus. Anna. He hadn’t seen her since they were interns. She’d taken a fellowship in forensic pathology out east while he stayed in Kansas City. He wondered how she looked, smelled, felt. He’d convinced himself he could forget her, but his balls tightened as his body remembered. It can’t be Anna. He felt sure she would have contacted him. “Thanks for the info, Brian.”
“Sure, man, sure.” Brian smiled. “Anything for a friend. Just don’t be trying to make time with my girl.” He faked a punch to Nathan’s stomach. “We might have to tangle.”
“Better get back to work.” Nathan had a clear policy for not biting people. In Brian’s case, he considered making an exception.
* * * *
Nathan got home a little after four in the morning. He couldn’t stop thinking about Anna. She had been a serious student, a bit of a loner, and somehow their relationship worked. He leaned back into his easy chair, rubbing his temples.
Their split had resulted in his first heartbreak. Imagining her back in town and not calling raised his ire. She had promised to keep in touch when she left. They both knew a long distance relationship would never have worked. But, damn it, she had also been his friend—then nothing. He glanced at his cell phone. The notification light blinked in the top corner. He slid his finger across the screen and saw he had two messages.
He called his voicemail. “Message one, Thursday, seven p.m.” and then “Nathan, Nathan, are you there? I hate these darn machines! I know you’re busy. I’m your mother! Call me for goodness sake. Mrs. Roberts… You remember her, the nice lady from my church… Well, she has a niece your age and… I am just worried about you. I can’t stand the idea of you growing old alone. Call me.”
Mom. Nathan bit his lip. If she only knew.
He held his breath as the second message began to play.
“Nathaniel.” Nathan’s balls tensed and his cock went semi-hard the instant he heard the masculine voice with the hint of accent. Not Mom again. This time, Guillermo. “I can’t see you tomorrow night. I will call you in a couple of days.”
The message stopped there. Cryptic, as usual. Nathan sighed, wishing Guillermo had been waiting for him in the apartment. Shit! Gui’s voice alone could bring Nathan into aching readiness. He tried to convince himself his interest in Gui ran only to sex. Only, at the moment, being near him would be enough. He looked at the clock. It read five-thirty. With less than an hour until dawn and nothing to do, Nathan did an internet search for the medical examiner’s office. the address of the medical examiner’s office building.
* * * *
In a dark office, on the second floor of the Jackson County Medical Examiner’s building, Anna Murphy hunched over her desk and thumbed through paperwork. A large cork display board hung on the far wall posted with pictures of the three victims. The previous medical examiner working the case had been caught drinking on the job and had his license suspended for six months. Anna’s success rate in North Carolina made her a shoo-in for the opening. She purposefully requested to work evenings; less people around meant fewer complications. If her co-workers ever found out that not all of her methods were medical in nature, she would be laughed out of forensics.
She opened a drawer on the desk to retrieve the bag with the nail clippings and hair. Anna rubbed the lock of hair between her fingers. Nothing.
She looked over the last M.E.’s autopsy reports. They lacked detail and the bodies were now so decomposed, another examination would be useless. She only had her latest victim to draw her a picture of the crime. The cause of death, obvious—the why and how intrigued her the most. The jagged edges around the throat wound looked like they were caused by canine teeth, and the heart appeared to be ripped out by claws instead of an implement. Was the killer an animal? A man? It remained to be seen. The victims had all been found close to the Missouri River.
What am I missing?
Anna absently flicked at the paper in her hand. A note card with Nathan’s cell phone number fell to the floor. She leaned over and picked it up. When she had decided to take the job at the medical examiner’s office, she had gotten his number from his mom, but kept putting off contacting him. Why am I so afraid to call him?
She reached for the phone as the door to her office opened and a cool breeze swept over her.
Nathan.
* * * *
After Nathan awoke in the evening, he called a taxi to take him downtown. He stood staring at Anna from the doorway. A tingle rippled over his skin, tightening his chest. There she sat, beautiful as ever, her bow lips slack with surprise.
“Anna.” He fought to keep his voice steady. “How have you been?”
He gazed at the slender curve of her shoulders, his emotions churning in the pit of his stomach. He used to dream of what it would be like to hold Anna once again in his arms. And here she stood, looking like the last eight years had stood still for her, still beautiful.
A
nna’s legs quivered as she stood. “Nathan… How…?” She started toward him and stumbled. Nathan hastened to catch her.
“Are you all right?” Holding her this close, he could smell her cinnamon hair—apples. She smelled like apples. He undid the severe bun and loosed her long hair to breathe more of her scent.
Anna straightened herself until they were face to face with only inches to spare between them. Nathan drew his fingers up the small of her back and heard her heart quicken. Her breath came out in a stuttering sigh. “Nathan.”
She closed her eyes and leaned in to meet his mouth with hers. Nathan’s first instinct told him to ravish her, to take her body and soul. His mind told him to retreat. He listened to the mind, turning his face to force her lips to his cheek. Her eyes opened, startled, rejected and hurt.
Abruptly, Nathan let her go and walked over to the corkboard. Suddenly angry, he tried to sound casual, rubbed his forehead and fought off the urge to scream. “So, you’re working in Kansas City now. Had enough of the east coast?”
“I… Yes, I’m working in Kansas City now.” She stepped hesitantly toward him. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you. I’ve been meaning to.” She picked the note card off the desk with his number. “See,” she said, holding it out to him. “I’ve only been in KC a couple of weeks.”
Nathan took the card, avoiding her eyes. “Well, I’m glad you decided that you would get around to it sooner or later.”
Exasperation crossed her face. “Well, hey, sorry if I took too long to suit you.”
“Took too long? Try never.”
“Don’t be an ass, Nathan. I was worried that you might have a girlfriend, or worse, be married. I wasn’t ready to find out if you had settled into a happy home without me. Can you blame me?”
“Yes.” Nathan blamed her for not keeping in touch, for not picking up the phone to say she missed him, for not coming back sooner. And now that he had become vampire, beast… “It’s probably for the best.”
Anna flushed with irritation. “Calling works both ways, you know. I don’t remember getting a phone call, letter or even a fucking text from you!” She poked him in the chest to emphasize the point.
A Reluctant Vampire Page 6
