Catch

by Annie Nicholas

  I didn’t require any further invitation to drink. The metallic flavor flowed down my throat, what was left of my humanity cringed, the other part savored every drop. It satiated my hunger beast but never touched the void it created.

  Maybe Rurik was right and I should take his offer. Bound to each other, only he could make me vampire. Other vamps could kill me, but never cross me over.

  He rose before I felt satisfied. “I bought you a gift.” I licked my lips and watched my lover pull a garment in a dry cleaning bag from under us.

  “It’s a dress for tonight.”

  It should be against the law for men to shop for women without supervision. Don’t get me wrong, Rurik had wonderful taste—what he liked me to wear bordered on pornographic though.

  My smile wavered. “Let me see it.”

  “No.” He strode across the room and laid it on the bed. “It’s Rio, Rabbit. On New Year’s Eve, live a little. You’ll look beautiful in it.” Then he left me alone, lying in the closet on a pile of wrinkled clothes, a broken closet rod at my side. “I’ll run us a bath,” he called out from the bathroom.

  I wandered to the bed and opened my present. With a little glue in the right places, the red dress might actually cover the important parts. A note pinned inside the bodice caught my attention. Romantic gestures kept relationships alive and this one made me happy. I opened the paper.

  It wasn’t the kind of love note I expected. This one came from my ex-boss, Colby.

  Chapter Two

  The Copacabana Beach spanned the shores of southern Rio. Rurik spun me around as we danced on a raised platform by the white sand, surrounded by hundreds of people gathered to ring in the New Year. Fast-paced Samba music played and couples boogied with abandon under the clear night sky.

  Rurik took dancing lessons with me for my birthday present six months ago. Not that he needed them. They were so I could keep up with him. The crowd-shuffle most of us practiced in the nightclubs irked him. He preferred a partner, like the old days, and ballroom genres were more to his taste. I wish we had the whole night to practice our moves.

  Most women around me wore less than I did, but the red, thin silk of my dress clung to my curves and reached above mid-thigh with slits running to my hips. All held together by two spaghetti straps that crisscrossed my bare back. I couldn’t wear a freaking bra under it, not even one that attached around my waist. The back was too low, almost exposing the top of my ass. I kept pulling at the hem, checking the straps.

  Prior to our departure, I bitched about Rurik’s idea of sexy. “I don’t mind,” he had said.

  No shit.

  “If I have to go braless then you go shirtless.” I crossed my arms, thinking like a fool that I had won.

  The white silk shirt he wore fluttered to the ground and he offered me his arm. “Then let’s party.” How could I argue with a gorgeous man who treated me like I was the center of his universe?

  Guilt stung as I recalled the note in my dress. Colby, the man who’d taught me about vampires and dragged me out of the bottom of a Jack Daniel’s bottle, wanted to meet tonight. Alone. I’d made a promise to Rurik I’d never keep secrets from him again. Yet here I danced with my lover, the very man I made the promise to, and I broke it by not saying a word.

  He would never have let me meet Colby without him. Torn between the love for my vampire and the respect for my vampire slayer, I tried to live in the moment. I knew later there would be hell to pay.

  As we parted in our dance, Rurik twisted me around then trailed his hand over the back of my shoulders while I did the same to his. Sweat trickled down the center of his chest and his black hair clung to his pale skin in sharp contrast. The desire burning in his eyes as I shuffled toward him made me love the stupid red dress.

  Before I reached him, a young Latino man stepped between us. His broad chest blocked my way and he offered me his hand, as if asking for the chance to switch partners.

  “No, thanks.” I shook my head and tried to go around him. He feigned not understanding me and stepped into my path.

  I saw Rurik’s thunderous expression around the man’s shoulder. It took restraint for a vampire not to harm a mortal and Rurik barely contained it as he grabbed the fool and yanked him away. They got into each other’s face and spouted a round of Portuguese, which sounded like insults. I played the role of the dumb blonde who tried to pull her supernaturally strong boyfriend out of a fight. Not because I thought he’d get hurt, but to save the young idiot’s life.

  “Come on, it’s Rio. Let it go.” I tugged at his hand. “I want to dance and make love, not fight.”

  He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes trailing from my legs to my face. “Maybe I shouldn’t have bought you that dress.”

  I leaned against him and whispered, “Only you get to unwrap me.” Now ignored, the young man left without incident.

  “After the fireworks the beach will empty.” Rurik waggled his eyebrows as he circled his hands around my waist, drawing me closer until I pressed against him.

  “Only if I get the top.” The last time we had sex on the beach it took me over a day to pick all the sand out of my ass.

  “Oh baby, you know what I like.” He leaned in close and embraced me. Lips pressed together and tongues tangled while the fireworks began to explode over our heads. The crowds cheered, but we had our own private fireworks going on. I loved being enveloped in his indestructible strength, or touching the tip of my tongue to his fangs. What a way to ring in the New Year. I sighed as his hand wandered up the back of my thighs until it reached under the hem of my dress.

  I jumped and slapped at his hand. “No public exposure, thank you very much.” He grinned back, showing a little fang. “I want you to keep that dress on while you ride me. Wait here a moment, I can find a secluded place on the beach faster by myself.” He took a step away then hesitated and turned to me. “Stay in the crowd, you’ll be safer.” I watched him disappear in the mix of tourists and locals. This was the chance I’d been waiting for, the opportunity to sneak away for a moment and meet Colby. He waited for me on the rooftop of the Copacabana hotel, right across the street. How he knew we’d be here was beyond me. I’d stopped questioning Colby’s abilities ages ago.

  Guilt wrung my heart. I didn’t deserve Rurik. With a sigh, I twisted to look at the hotel. Colby probably watched me right now, waiting for me to betray Rurik’s trust.

  Squaring my shoulders, I stomped as best as I could in high heeled sandals across the street, through the front lobby and took the elevator to the rooftop. I scoped out the area.

  The scene here reflected the one on the beach except the clothes people wore looked more expensive. I stuck to the edge of the crowd and recognized a tall redhead dancing like only a white man could.

  He waved.

  What a covert specialist. I shook my head at the sight. Like it or not, I missed Red.

  All beefy muscles and built like a linebacker, he was Colby’s second in command. Some people associated dumb with big. Red hadn’t survived this long as a slayer by being stupid. I waved back and watched him bulldoze his way through the crowd.

  “Holy hot mamas, Connie. What do ya charge for a night?”

  “More than you could ever afford.” The big lug wore an orange Hawaiian shirt and pink shorts. “You look like a color blind tourist. That’s usually not your style.”

  “Maybe, Sen-w hore-a we should take these negotiations to my room.” He slipped a folded Brazilian dollar between my breasts.

  I braced myself as I prepared to punch him in the face, but caught the wink he aimed at me. Blood threatened to pink my cheeks as I relaxed my stance. It had been a long time since I’d operated with this mercenary group. Nothing ever seemed like it should be, which made me as nervous as a virgin on her first hot date.

  Red led me to the elevator. “Ladies-of-the-night first.” He held the door.

  Uncomfortable under his scrutiny, I crossed to the far corner of the lift and watched the doors slide cl
osed behind him. “So, what have you been up to—” He splashed a vial of cold liquid in my face.

  I gasped. “What’s your problem?” Then wiped the drops from my eyes, hoping it wasn’t a knockout drug. It didn’t smell and I didn’t feel woozy. Fists clenched with my blood boiling, I stepped up to him. Red’s laughter didn’t help my state of mind. “This isn’t a joke.” The words sounded like a growl.

  “No, it ain’t.” He snorted one more time before he stopped laughing and gathered me in a bone-crunching bear hug. “Needed to make sure you didn’t cross over and go vamp.”

  “If I did cross over… that could have killed me.” I wheezed out those last words with the remaining air in my lungs.

  Red squeezed me a little harder until stars flashed in front of my eyes then set me down. “It’s holy water. A little dry cleanin’ will fix the stains on that lovely dress.”

  “You’re an ass.” I stumbled away and flung the money still stuck in my cleavage at his feet. “I only came here to tell Colby to stick it in his ear. This proves you guys are nuts.”

  “Are we? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? Pale and lean, you even come up on my internal radar as a predator. We’ve observed Rurik teachin’ you how to hunt.” He tried to block my attempt to hit the lobby button with his bulk, and didn’t move fast enough. “Then there’s the speed.”

  “These are things linked to my blood bond with Rurik. And he’s not teaching me how to hunt.” My flush grew hotter as Red raised his eyebrow in doubt. “It’s a game, okay? Leave it at that.”

  “Kinky.” The door opened on his floor. He didn’t budge, just stuck his foot out to keep the elevator door from closing and continuing down to the lobby.

  I crossed my arms. “What do mean observed? Are you watching me?” He blinked. “If we happen to be in the same area we check in on you. You gotta understand how much it eats at us to lose one of our own.”

  “I was never a slayer. I was your bait.”

  “Maybe to Colby, but to me you were a friend. Are a friend.” He offered me a hand.

  I could count the number of people who cared for me on one hand. Red used to be one of them. It hurt him when I left the group to be with Rurik.

  “The vial only contained a couple tablespoons of the stuff, Connie. It would have stung but you would have healed.” He sighed. “I couldn’t kill ya.” Against my better judgment, I placed my hand in his. “Dumb oaf.”

  “Cheap date.” He grinned from ear to ear and I mirrored him.

  “Ya know Colby, he’d never ask for help unless he really needed it.” His smile faded. “Young girls are dying in the area and we haven’t been able to catch the bastard doin’ it.” He tugged my hand. “Let’s go talk.”

  I glanced over my shoulder as the lift door closed on my way back to Rurik. My life was a trail of stupid decisions and this one topped them all. If I brought him, Colby would never disclose what he needed from me. I wanted to help, especially with lives hanging in the balance. Rurik would understand, after much persuasion on my part.

  Red unlocked a door and held it for me. Decorated in pale beige, the hotel room appeared elegant with its modern dark wood furniture. A king-sized bed sat to my left, a sitting area with a sleek couch and matching chairs to my right. The man in the high backed chair by the window drew most of my attention.

  Dressed in a worn green t-shirt and blue jeans, Colby watched me cross the room and sit in the chair facing him. His flat expression didn’t match the tension in his body.

  Unlike Red, we’d never shared a friendship, just a professional relationship. I don’t think Colby had any friends. He was a man on a mission. I just never got the memo explaining what it was.

  “So, you’re still human.”

  “Last I checked.” I leaned back into the stiff cushion, crossed my legs and flashed plenty of thigh. This man could make an ice sculpture look warm. The last time I’d seen him show emotion was when I’d rescued him from Tane’s yacht. A fury of hatred poured from him then as he tried to kill the Nosferatu vampire with his bare hands. Laughable now, but terrifying then.

  “Still a smart ass too. What did you do with your master?” He glanced at Red guarding the door who shook his head in denial. “Rurik didn’t come with you?”

  “He’s not my master. Rurik’s on the beach waiting for me, so hurry this up. I won’t play this game.”

  “Very well.” He drew a manila envelope from under his chair and tossed it at me.

  Inside I found pictures. Déjà vu settled over me. Budapest all over again. They’d better not be here to convince me Rurik was a murderer. We’d walked this road one too many times.

  I slid them out and found pictures of young girls. Each one about my age, not a bite mark on them except the last two, the others were cut at an important pulse point—

  carotid, femoral, or radial. The wounds could hide evidence of possible vampire attack, but it could be a psycho as well. “Red told me about them. Why were you hired for this?” I flipped through them again. Age was the only similarity I saw.

  “Whoever is doing this got sloppy and didn’t even bother to hide the bite marks on the last two girls.” Colby leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

  “What makes you think they’re all vamp victims? I can’t see the link.”

  “The hair.”

  “What?” I looked at them again and understood somewhat. Complicated, intricate braids adorned their heads. Very in-style over a hundred years ago. “He does their hair?

  That’s just weird.”

  He grunted and nodded.

  “Still doesn’t explain who hired you for this?” I placed the pictures back in the envelope. Not the way I wanted to start my New Year.

  “The detective working this case is familiar with our kind of work. He recognized the signs and hired us as contractors.”

  “Really? I didn’t think vampires existing was common knowledge.” My brows furrowed at the thought. From what I understood, most people didn’t know, and that’s how the vampires wanted it. Outright killing drew too much attention so they banned it centuries ago and punished those caught severely.

  Therein lay the problem. Most were too smart to leave a trail if they went too far and actually killed their prey. The Nosferatu took care of matters if they did it too often.

  Where the hell were they then if we had a vampire on a murdering spree?

  Colby stared at me with his piercing green eyes. They narrowed as the corners of his mouth turned down. “Some places are more aware of the true nature of the world than others.” He ran his fingers through his short dirty blond hair. “Why are you in Rio, Connie?”

  “For the Easter egg hunt. What do you think? Rurik wanted to show me the city during the holidays.”

  Neither of them spoke.

  “Ah hell, what am I missing?” I really, really didn’t want to know. Sometimes being oblivious was bliss, but not with girls getting killed around me.

  “Do you know who the Overlord of Rio is?”

  “No,” I whispered and swallowed with a dry throat.

  “Tane.”

  “Oh.” That sucked big sour lemons. Tane hated me.

  “Now that he rules the vampire nations, Rio’s become a popular place among them.

  People here cling to the older ways of thinking and are more superstitious. I’d say some people are more aware of reality than most modern nations.”

  “I haven’t seen any other vampires since we arrived here.” I scratched my chin. We encountered some in every city. “We’ve been here a few days and Rurik’s kept us busy all over town.” As if flaunting our presence. Maybe I wasn’t the only one keeping secrets.

  “I thought he and Tane were friends.”

  “Yeah, so did I. What does this have to do with the girls?”

  “Nothing, so far.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “The usual, you fit the killer’s vice.”

  “Be bait.” I sighed. “Whe
re and when?”

  “We’ll contact you. Until then, if you find out anything you can reach me on my cell.

  You still remember the number?”

  “Better than my own.” I unfolded from the chair and sauntered to the door.

  He followed and opened it for me. As I crossed the threshold, he pinched my ass.

  “Nice dress, by the way.”

  I swung around, but faced the closed wooden door. His touch left me uneasy, and the murders even worse.

  It didn’t take long to leave the hotel and spot my hunk searching the crowd for me. I decided on the elevator trip down that I’d confess everything to him. He could access more contacts in this city and he’d want to help. Rurik took the no-kill law very seriously.

  My heels clicked on the pavement as I crossed the street. Our eyes met through the hoard of people leaving the area. I smiled at him and hoped he’d found a secluded spot for us to celebrate.

  His eyes grew wider as panic spread across his face. He shoved people out of his way while trying to race in my direction.

  Fear gripped my heart and I twisted around to see what monster could strike such terror in Rurik. Iron strong hands clasped my shoulders as I came face to face with a bald man. Not a man. The pointed ears and fangs gave him away. A Nosferatu.

  Chapter Three

  I’d met enough Nosferatu to last me eternity.

  He lifted me by the shoulders as if I weighed nothing and held me in front of him.

  Power oozed from him. They were the strongest vampire clan. Unlike the other Nosferatu I’d encountered, this one bore no apparent tattoos. He wore a dirty, beige short-sleeved shirt with blue jeans and a pair of worn sneakers. From a distance, he could pass for a street thug.

  My heart raced so fast it skipped beats. I tried to scream, but my lungs froze from fright. All I could do was stare into the black pits of his eyes and wait for him to break me with a twist of his hands.

  Time stopped, as if whatever controlled the universe gave me one last moment to feel alive. We stood in a crowd of people leaving the Copacabana beach. The Nosferatu held me high enough that I could see the two regular vampires behind him. Laughter floated in the air, someone gave a high whistle to my left and a young woman glanced at me over her shoulder only to ignore the terror on my face.