by Parker Blue
Dan went. The howling undead chased us on foot, apparently thinking they could outrun the truck. They were fast, but not that fast. But when Dan slowed down to turn a corner, one actually caught hold of the door frame at the open driver’s window. His hand sizzled at contact with the silver, but he wouldn’t let go.
DINNER!
Fang darted forward and chomped down on his fingers as Dan elbowed the undead creep in the face. The vamp screeched and let go, and none of his friends were fast enough to catch us. Soon, we left the other vamps in our dust. With the threat gone, Lola subsided and I could relax.
Good job, I thought at Fang.
He gave me a doggie grin. GOTTA GET MY KICKS WHERE I CAN, SINCE YOU SAID THESE OTHER TWO ARE OFF LIMITS. WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?
I filled him in as Dan concentrated on his driving. “Where to?” he asked.
Alejandro hesitated, evidently unwilling to let us know the location of his lair. “Anywhere—it doesn’t matter. Away from downtown.”
Finally, the woman spoke. “The blood bank on the south side. It’s closed tonight because of the rally.”
Alejandro nodded. “Good idea.” He gave Dan directions then flipped open his cell phone and gave instructions to his driver to meet him there.
A vampire using a cell phone . . . . That just seemed wrong, somehow.
He made another call, this time to Austin, asking how things were going at the hall. Alejandro hung up and said, “Now that we’re gone, things have calmed down there. No one was hurt . . . much.”
Meaning the vamps could heal whatever damage they’d taken.
I nodded, but Dan said nothing, and the woman between Dan and Alejandro was stiff as a board. The tension between them was almost tangible. Weird. What was going on? Alejandro slanted a questioning glance toward me in the back seat. I shrugged, not knowing any more than he did.
Apparently, the vamp didn’t believe me, because I soon felt a tickling in my mind. Fang growled, sensing the vamp’s attempt by my reaction. “That won’t work,” I said flatly, soothing the dog’s fur.
The tickling vanished. “What won’t work?” Alejandro asked.
“You, trying to control my mind. It won’t work.”
“Why not?” Alejandro laid his arm on the back of the seat and smiled at me, oozing charm and sex appeal with seeming effortlessness. He didn’t even need mind control to do it—it came naturally for him.
I bet a lot of women fell for that Latin charm, but I couldn’t forget he was one of the undead. Nor, apparently, could the succubus inside me. Lola wasn’t even tempted. I just gave him a you-gotta-be-kidding-me look.
He laughed, his voice caressing and full of sexual promises. “I see. I cannot control your mind because you are . . . special.”
“Damn straight.”
Still grinning, the vamp leader said, “I would expect nothing less of the Slayer.”
I scowled at him. “How did you and everyone else learn about me, anyway? And who is calling me the Slayer?”
Alejandro managed to make a shrug look elegant. “A young girl has been showing your picture around, calling you the Slayer, trying to find you.”
Oh, crap—not Jen, surely. “Was she about sixteen? Blond? Look like a cheerleader?”
Seeming amused, Alejandro nodded.
It had to be Jennifer. Who else was that moronic?
That got Dan’s attention. He shot a glance at Alejandro. “Did she say why she was looking for Val?”
Naw, she probably just had a death wish.
Alejandro’s eyes twinkled. “Shall we exchange information, then?”
“Okay,” Dan said. “Tit for tat.” He pulled up in front of the blood bank, which looked like a renovated hotel, and Alejandro invited us in.
Are you coming? I asked Fang.
He sniffed disdainfully. IF YOU’RE JUST GONNA TALK, YOU DON’T NEED ME. I’LL STAY HERE. YELL IF YOU’RE ACTUALLY GONNA, YOU KNOW, KILL SOMETHING.
He sounded miffed that I wasn’t automatically going into slayer mode, but I was curious about this supposed kinder, gentler vein of vampires—not to mention Dan’s odd fascination with the woman beside him and what the heck Jen was doing hanging around a bunch of vamps.
Alejandro and the woman led the way inside a darkened lobby, and Dan and I followed. “What’s up with you?” I whispered, but Dan ignored me. If he hadn’t had such a set expression on his face, I might have thought he was enthralled. But, nope, he was just being Dan—stubborn as all get out.
Alejandro took us up the elevator to the fourth floor and showed us to a state-of-the-art conference room with all kinds of electronic gadgets. I couldn’t begin to guess what most of them were for.
“So,” the charismatic man said, smiling at me, “I am Alejandro. I cannot continue calling such a lovely young woman the Slayer. You are . . . ?”
Lovely. Uh-huh. “No one. Just call me Buffy,” I said. It was a stupid name, but convenient.
He grimaced. “And your charming friend?”
“Dan Sullivan,” the woman answered, her face expressionless. “He’s a cop.”
So they did know each other. But Dan wasn’t happy about it, if his expression was any indication.
“And this is Lily Armstrong,” Dan said, his voice tight.
“How do you know her?” I asked.
“Former fiancée,” he said curtly.
I couldn’t tell whether Lily’s new dental work was a surprise to Dan or an old wound. I felt for him, I really did, but I hoped it wouldn’t distract him from what was going on.
Alejandro raised one elegant eyebrow as if inviting them to explain more, but neither seemed inclined to fill us in. Dan remained standing next to me, glaring at Lily. The woman didn’t respond, doing her best to ignore him as she stood by Alejandro’s side like a good little flunky.
She ignored me, too, like I wasn’t even good enough to notice—no threat in any department. How annoying.
Alejandro shrugged and quirked an eyebrow at Dan. “So. An answer for an answer?” At Dan’s nod, the vampire leader asked, “What did you hope to gain by causing a riot at my rally?”
Dan scowled. “It wasn’t intentional. We just wanted to learn more about your group.”
“ Yeah,” I added. “I had no idea anyone would know who I was.”
“Why did you wish to know more of us?”
“No, you first,” I said. “What did the young girl with my picture want?”
Alejandro shrugged. “She wanted to learn more about our organization, find you, and apparently threaten us with your reputation. Her name I do not know.”
Good. My jaw tightened anyway. Obviously, Mom hadn’t given Jen my new number. But if my sister continued on this stupid course, she might find more than she bargained for.
“And your reason for being at the rally?” Alejandro probed.
Dan paused, then said, “The San Antonio Police Department heard about your group and wanted us to find out more, see if you’re dangerous.”
“And are we?”
Alejandro talked a good game, but was he telling the truth? I didn’t know.
“You tell me,” Dan said.
“I assure you I am sincere,” Alejandro said with a hand to his heart. In that cape, the gesture made him look like something out of The Three Musketeers, and I wondered just how old he was.
Dan snorted. “Then why are there so many vampire kills in the city?”
“That is something I am trying to stop,” Alejandro said with a frown.
“How? By bringing them into the fold?”
The vamp inclined his head. “Just so. If I can convince them to join the New Blood Movement, use our blood banks, they will have no reason to feed on humans without their consent.”
Dan let out a short bark of laughter. “No reason except for being evil.”
“Ah, but that is a common misunderstanding,” Alejandro exclaimed. “Becoming a vampire does not make one evil.”
“Then what does?”
&n
bsp; “You do not understand. One of the side effects of becoming a vampire is that a person becomes much more of what they already were.”
I didn’t get it.
Apparently, Dan didn’t either. “Explain.”
“Their . . . primary characteristics are enhanced. For example, if someone is bad to begin with, they will become even more evil after the change. However, if someone lives by honor and justice, such as my vaquero, Austin, he will now espouse those attributes even more.”
It made a kind of weird sense, but I wasn’t sure I bought it. “And you?” I asked. “Don’t tell me—you were a Don Juan wannabe.”
Alejandro surprised me by laughing. “No, I was a leader of men . . . and women. A good one.”
A Spanish aristocrat, I bet. Home-schooled or not, I knew there weren’t a lot of good, noble aristocrats who cared more for their fellow man than power and wealth.
Dan’s gaze shifted to Lily, as if wondering what characteristics of hers had been enhanced. Annoyed, I wondered what Dan had seen in the Ice Queen.
Who was I kidding? What guy wouldn’t be attracted to someone who was tall, blond, and sophisticated? A real woman, not a scruffy kid like me. I asked the question for him. “What about Lily?”
“She has amazing managerial abilities, and a knowledge of modern technology that has become invaluable to the organization.”
“Why?” Dan asked, the sound almost exploding from him.
Okay, surprise then. He hadn’t known.
That was all he said, but it was enough. The agonized confusion in his tone asked the rest for him. Why had she abandoned her future for a life as one of the undead?
Lily shook her head, not meeting his eyes. “My reasons are my own.”
Dan’s eyes narrowed. “Who did this to you?” His gaze flicked to Alejandro. “Him?”
Lily shrugged. “No, and it doesn’t matter who did. It was my choice. My . . . necessity.”
“Necessity?” Dan repeated, grabbing on to the word as if it were a clue. “What does that mean?”
“Mr. Sullivan, please,” Alejandro interjected. “It is considered bad manners amongst my people to ask why and how they made the change.” He paused. “But perhaps it will comfort you to know that many choose this life for . . . medical reasons. The healing powers of the vampiro are quite remarkable, healing any disease or wound short of death.”
Dan faced Lily. “Were you ill?” Like me, Dan had evidently noticed that Alejandro hadn’t actually claimed Lily was ill—he had just pointed out the possibility.
Lily turned her head, refusing to answer, refusing to let any expression show on her face. Dan’s fists clenched and I felt a twinge of sympathy, though I wondered why he cared so much. She was his ex, wasn’t she? Or maybe he hadn’t quite gotten over her.
“So,” Alejandro said into the silence, making the single word into a full sentence. “Now that you know what we are and what we plan, will your police department believe we mean no harm?”
“I’m not sure I do know or believe that,” Dan said.
Alejandro gave him a reproachful look. “If you doubt it, you are welcome to come back here tomorrow night, visit our operation, and see that all is as we say it is.”
Okay, I had to admit it looked like he was one of the good guys. But I’d never met a vampire with a white hat before—could we trust him?
Of course, this was Dan’s call. Senior officer and all that. I’d feel a lot better if we could talk this over. I wasn’t sure his head was in the game since his gaze kept straying to Lily.
In his favor, Alejandro had protected the humans at the rally by sending them away, and had even seemed concerned about the fate of those left behind. Could there really be such a thing as a good vampire?
Well, if there was, it sure played hell with my world view. But I couldn’t condemn him for trying to make things better. Dan evidently came to the same conclusion.
“All right,” he said. “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. But if you make any mistake, if any one in your organization hurts any human, your ass is ash. Got it?”
He smiled. “Yes I have it.”
“Good. Val, let’s go.” He hesitated for a moment, still glaring at Lily as if he would force her to give up her secrets.
“Dan,” I said a little louder, “we have no more business here.”
Dan grimaced, but followed me out the door. Once in the truck, he clenched the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white, his expression full of frustration.
Fang and I shared a glance.
WHAT’S HIS PROBLEM?
Later. “Are you all right?” I asked Dan.
“Fine,” he bit out.
Uh-huh. “I—I’m sorry about Lily,” I said. Not sorry that Dan was no longer with the hot-shot hottie, but no one should have to learn a loved one—even a former loved one—had become a creature of the night.
He struggled with himself for a moment, but only one word emerged. “Yeah.”
Guess he needed more time to take it in. “Hey, if you—”
“Change the subject,” he grated, interrupting my offer of a shoulder to cry on.
Okay, sure. “Uh, how ‘bout them Spurs?” I ventured.
He just gave me an incredulous stare.
Okay, what did I know about sports, anyway? I searched my mind for a new topic, hoping Dan wouldn’t try to operate this vehicle until he calmed down. I had to give him something else to think about besides himself. And, frankly, any talk about our job would lead back to the one topic I was trying to avoid—Lily. I had to get his mind on something else.
Okay, he can think about me. “Maybe you could help me with something.”
“Like what?” He definitely sounded interested, hopeful even.
How could I ask for his help in finding the other lust demon without telling him why? I’d just have to lie. “Right before I moved out, my stepfather hinted that I might have . . . other family in the area. On my father’s side.”
“So you’re trying to find them?”
“Yes, but he didn’t have a phone number or address or anything. Just a name—Lucas Blackburn.”
“I assumed you tried the obvious first—the phone book.”
“Yes. But none of the Blackburns listed knew a Lucas.”
“He’s unlisted, then,” Dan mused. “That shouldn’t be a problem. If he lives in San Antonio, I’ll find him.” He wrote down the name in his notebook.
“Thanks,” I said, feeling genuinely grateful. Wow, I’d just been trying to distract the guy, but this was a huge bonus.
Sudden elation filled me as I realized what this meant. I’d finally find someone who seemed to know a heck of a lot more about my curse than I did. Maybe he could tell me more about how to handle it. And maybe . . . maybe he’d even know how to get rid of it forever.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Dan couldn’t follow up on Lucas Blackburn for me until we went off duty. As we looked for more vampires, I tried not to wonder if I was doing the right thing in attempting to find others like me.
Instead, I kept my mind firmly on the task at hand as we cruised for hours around the areas Dan had identified as most likely to show activity. While we drove, we speculated on whether the New Blood Movement could possibly be a good thing.
I was beginning to think they might be legit, but though Dan had given them the benefit of the doubt earlier, he was still convinced they were all bad. The Movement really changed the way we looked at things. SCU policy was that we couldn’t stake the vamps unless we had proof they were really bad guys. Before tonight, it had been easy. See vamp attack, see vamp die. Now, it wasn’t so black and white.
But the vamps were either celebrating the Day of the Dead in their own special ways, or were lying low for some reason ’cause we couldn’t find any more. At least the constant vigilance seemed to keep Dan’s mind occupied and off of Lily.
Finally, a couple of hours before dawn, it was time to quit. And since most vampires were probab
ly heading toward a dark, safe place about now, we called it a night.
After we checked out, Dan drove me back to the townhouse. “What are you going to do now?” I asked.
“I don’t know—have a drink or two, maybe listen to some music. Why?”
I shrugged. I wasn’t sure Dan should be alone right now. Drinking alone was never a good sign. “I don’t have anything else to do and I’m not sleepy yet. Want to hang out? Gwen won’t be home for another couple of hours yet.”
YOU JUST WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT LILY.
Okay, I admit it. I’m curious. What’s wrong with that?
Fang snorted as Dan shrugged and said, “Whatever.”
He followed me into the townhouse and Fang said, WELL, I’M BEAT. YOU TWO CHAT AMONGST YOURSELVES. I’M CATCHING SOME Z’S.
I hugged him, then cupped his fuzzy little chin and turned his face up to mine. He might be snarky, but he was still incredibly cute. I kissed him on the top of his head and scratched his ears. Goodnight, Fang. Sleep tight. Love you.
He licked my nose. BACK ATCHA, KIDDO. Before things could turn too warm and fuzzy, he turned and trotted toward the bed. DON’T THINK TOO LOUD, OKAY?
How did you regulate the volume of a thought? Bemused, I promised to try and asked Dan, “Would you like something to drink?” I peered into the refrigerator. “Looks like we have Coke, orange juice, beer, water . . . ”
“Thanks, but I know where Gwen stashes the booze.” He opened a cupboard and pulled out a bottle of bourbon. “Want some?” He hesitated. “Oh, sorry. Forgot you’re not old enough.”
Just another reason for him to think I was a kid. Hell, he wasn’t much older. Annoyed, I said, “No thanks—it tastes like gasoline.” I poured myself a Coke.
He put some soft jazz on the CD player, turned the lights down low, and settled down on the opposite end of the couch from me with his feet up on the table.
“Gee, make yourself at home.”
He looked somewhat embarrassed, “Sorry, I hang out at Gwen’s a lot and this is how I unwind.”
“It’s okay,” I reassured him.
He didn’t seem to be able to relax, though, and looked as if some kind of hamster was spinning madly in his head. “Want to talk about it?” I asked.