by Parker Blue
Whoa, Dan, tell us what you really think. But I couldn’t blame him—I wondered the same things.
“It’s not an addiction,” Brittany protested. “We take blood from these people, we don’t put anything into their bloodstream, so how could anyone get addicted?”
Dan leaned in closer. “Think Johnson or Archuleta would say the same?” After his encounter with Charlene, he’d know, if anyone did, what a vamp could make you feel, make you want.
The girl waved that away as inconsequential. “They’re just crushing on some of the women who work here. There’s no addiction.”
Dan leaned farther over the desk to peer at Brittany’s neck and twitched her collar aside. “I don’t see any fang marks on you. How would you know how it affects people?”
Indignantly, Brittany straightened her collar. “I know because Alejandro told me so. And they won’t let the volunteers give blood in that way.”
“Oh, yeah? Ever wonder why not?”
The girl sniffed. “You’ll have to ask him that.”
“Meaning you don’t know,” he said flatly. “Tell me, what else do the volunteers do?”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Brittany said, “I don’t think I should talk to you anymore.”
He straightened. “If you’re not doing anything wrong, why won’t you talk to me?”
“Because you twist what I say,” she said petulantly.
Yes, and he did it so well . . . . “Never mind,” I said. “C’mon, Dan, let’s go see Alejandro.”
As we got in the elevator, Fang said, CAN I BITE ONE? CAN I, HUH?
Maybe. We’ll see how it goes.
We used the special key card to take the elevator up to the fourth floor. When we got off, Alejandro was there, beaming at us. “I am happy to see you accepted my invitation, Miss Shapiro.”
Miss Shapiro? Alejandro had managed to learn my name in a very short period of time, despite my attempt to mislead him. I raised my eyebrows but said nothing as he escorted us to the suite.
The living area of the suite looked aggressively modern—all stainless steel, black and white leather, and the occasional bold red accent. But it didn’t look really lived in, more like a staged magazine photo.
YEAH. KINDA MAKES ME WANT TO TAKE A LEAK ON HIS NICE WHITE RUG.
I suppressed a smirk. Evidently, this was not where Alejandro slept out his days. As we seated ourselves, I wondered idly if the vamp used a bed or a coffin.
“So,” Alejandro said, producing his charming smile. “You happened to catch us on one of the nights we are at this particular location.”
“Us?” I asked.
“Yes.” Alejandro gestured, and two of his assistants—Lily and Luis—drifted in, looking incredibly pink and healthy. Obviously, dining on mechanic tartare agreed with Lily. No doubt Luis had just fed as well.
As Lily and Luis took up stations behind Alejandro, Dan’s gaze seemed pulled toward Lily. But she was wouldn’t return it.
“Did you come for the tour?” Luis asked. Though his English was perfect, his accent was even heavier than Alejandro’s.
“No tour,” Dan answered. “Just questions.”
Alejandro spread his arms in invitation. “Ask.”
Before I could, Dan asked, “Do you have a Jennifer Anderson working for you?”
Alejandro glanced at Lily. “Do we?”
Expressionless, Lily typed something into the PDA she pulled from her purse. “Yes, she’s been working as a volunteer at the downtown blood bank for about a week.”
“So why are you trolling the high schools for volunteers?” Dan asked.
“We do not do this ‘troll,’” Alejandro protested. “They hear about us from their friends. They come to us. They find the idea of vampires exciting.”
Maybe, but why weren’t there more Goth or Emo volunteers? I would have thought they’d be first in line. Instead, the Movement seemed to go for the preppy type.
“Well, Jennifer is one you need to let go,” I said firmly.
“But of course,” Alejandro said, “if you wish it. But why?”
Dan gave me a hesitant glance, as if asking how much of my personal life I wanted to reveal. Well, since Alejandro knew my name, he could get the rest of it. Sighing, I said, “Jennifer is my sister. My half sister.”
Luis let out a brittle laugh. “And you are trying to save your little sister from the big bad vampires. How sweet.”
Dan glared at him. “We’re trying to protect you as well. If she hadn’t been working for you, your rally wouldn’t have turned into a riot.”
“I don’t understand,” Alejandro said in bewilderment.
“She’s the one who was showing her picture around and calling her the Slayer.”
“I see,” the vampire leader said thoughtfully. “Of course, I did not know this.”
I nodded. “Now that you do, you’ll fire her?”
“It is difficult to fire someone you have not hired, but yes, we will ask her to leave her volunteer position.” He glanced at Lily. “You will take care of it?”
“Yes, of course,” Lily murmured.
That was weird—Lily’s easy capitulation seemed at odds with that strong personality Gwen had mentioned.
“Thank you,” I said and glanced at Dan, wondering why he hadn’t moved yet.
He folded his arms and suddenly looked like someone even I wouldn’t want to mess with. “I have a few questions of my own.”
Fang said, OOH. THIS OUGHTA BE INTERESTING. THINK THEY’LL FIGHT?
Over Lily? I hoped not.
“Yes?” Alejandro asked with a raised eyebrow.
Dan ignored Alejandro and looked at Lily. “You couldn’t stand the fact that I treated you as an equal? You had to become undead so you could play servant to your master?”
Lily just glared at him.
“She is no servant,” Alejandro protested with a smile. “She is my trusted lieutenant, as are Luis and the other two you saw the other night. No one else has made it as far as fast as she has.”
“Release her from your mind control and let her tell me that.”
Luis snorted. “Mind control does not work on other vampires,” he said in a contemptuous tone.
“He’s right,” I said, giving Dan an apologetic glance.
Dan shook his head and said to Lily, “Can we talk alone?”
“No.” For the first time, some expression showed in her face—annoyance. “Look, I left because I didn’t want you. You couldn’t give me the life I deserved so I found someone who could.”
Fang laughed. OUCH. THAT’S GOTTA HURT.
Yeah, though Dan looked more angry than hurt. “Okay,” I said, rising. “Can we go now?” I asked him softly.
Dan rose. “Sure.”
As we headed down in the elevator, I said, “So we both got what we came for.”
Dan made a noncommittal sound. “Yeah. But I still don’t get how she—or anyone—would make that kind of choice.”
Me either, so I just kept my mouth shut. We were headed out of the building toward the truck two blocks away when Fang suddenly growled and I heard the sound of running feet. Before I could really register that fact, something hit Dan in the back and slammed him face first onto the hood of a nearby car.
Crap. A vamp. Had to be—no one else was that fast.
But I didn’t have time to help him, because two more vamps were headed my way. Fang leapt for the smaller one, and I braced myself as the other slammed me face-first against the building. Lola burst free.
Hating the way our energy fields intersected and caused his lust to leap to the forefront of his pants, I used my demon strength to kick backward and heard a yelp as my boot connected. His grip loosened and I whirled around and scrabbled for the stakes at the small of my back.
I whipped one out and fisted the stake with the flat end against my chest as the undead creep grabbed at the neck of my T-shirt. Sharp yellow fangs darted toward my neck and I pulled him forcefully against me with my free h
and.
As he impaled himself against my stake, he gurgled and slid down my chest with a look of wide-eyed surprise.
Fang yelped. A LITTLE HELP HERE!
Fang had been harrying the other vampire to keep her off me, but she had the hellhound cornered and was bringing her foot back to kick him. Hell, no. No one messes with my dog.
Too pissed to think straight, I used brute force to slam into her. I got her away from Fang, all right, but I lost my balance, and we fell in a tangle of arms and legs.
She ended up on top and had her hands around my throat in a flash. To hell with biting me—she was determined to choke me to death. I grabbed her hands and was barely able to keep her from cutting off my air entirely, but I didn’t dare let go to reach the stakes at my back.
Fang attacked her leg, trying to distract her, but she was so focused on killing me, I don’t think she noticed. Maybe I could—
Suddenly, her grip loosened and she fell limp on top of me.
Surprised, I looked past her to see Dan standing above me with blood dripping down his arm onto the stake in her back.
Rubbing my throat, I croaked, “My hero.”
Dan snorted. “Yeah, right.”
Fang snorted. HEY, I HELPED.
Yes, you did. You’re my hero, too.
AW, SHUCKS, TWEREN’T NOTHING.
Sounded like Fang was just fine.
He shook himself. I’M COOL.
I resisted the urge to chuckle and pushed the dead vamp off me, trying to avoid getting the blood on my shirt. Lola subsided, leaving me to deal with my aches and pains. Rising slowly, I told Dan, “No, really, thanks. For some dumb reason, I didn’t expect that here. They took me by surprise.”
“Me, too,” Dan admitted, wincing.
“You’re hurt.”
Dan glanced down at his right wrist. It oozed blood and he cradled his right arm in his left as he tried to stop the bleeding. “Yeah. He wanted to rip open a vein in my wrist, but the silver stopped him, so he tried to tear off my arm instead.”
I glanced down at his attacker. Silver burns marred his face from Dan’s jewelry, and he sported a nice new accessory—a stake in his heart. Dan had really held his own, but he didn’t heal as easily as Fang and I did. “We need to get you to a hospital.”
“No need. Can you get one of those GPS locators from the kit?” I got it out of the truck and he showed me how to activate the beacon.
Dan slumped against the truck. “The ambulance the SCU pick-up team uses isn’t just for show. All of them are trained EMTs, too—they’ll fix me up and take the vamps with them when they go. Kill two birds with one stone.”
Good, ’cause he sure wasn’t going to be able help me haul them into the back of the truck with just one arm. I helped him rig a sling for his wrenched shoulder, and we managed to pull the three attackers into a pile and cover them with a tarp before anyone else came along.
As we waited for the ambulance to arrive, Dan said, “Did it seem odd to you that we were attacked just after we had our little talk with Alejandro?”
“Maybe.” I thought for a moment. “But wouldn’t it be dumb for him to set his people on us, after trying so hard to gain our confidence?”
“Not if he thought we’d end up dead.”
“Maybe,” I repeated doubtfully. “But he has to know our superiors are aware that we’re investigating him, and he would be the first suspect if anything happened to us. It doesn’t make sense.” I paused. “But what really bothers me is that there were three of them. Vamps don’t usually travel in packs.”
“Alejandro’s people do,” he pointed out.
“True, but I can’t believe he’s that stupid. It’s not him I’m worried about.”
“Who then?”
“It’s the other vamps, the loners we’ve been staking one-on-one. They don’t advertise their locations like Alejandro does. They’re less predictable. What if they’ve started banding together?”
Dan frowned. “If they have, heaven help us mortals.”
CHAPTER NINE
I woke the next afternoon to the sound of the cell beeping. It startled me because I hadn’t heard it go off before. Confused, I stared sleepily at it as Fang stirred beside me. Oh—it was a text message.
I fumbled with the phone, trying to figure out how to read it. I’d never had a phone before ’cause I never needed one. But Jen and her friends texted all the time. How hard could it be?
It took me a few minutes of pushing buttons, but I figured it out. The message said, “Ur sister ran away. Working 4 blood bank.”
What? Who sent this? I checked to see who it was from, but there was no phone number listed, just an email address. Shoot, there went my idea of calling them to demand an explanation. I figured out how to reply and sent them a message. “Who r u?”
No response. I checked the email address again. It was from DU at a wireless company’s service. DU? Who did I know with those initials? No one.
They knew I had a sister, knew about the blood banks, and knew my number . . . . I ran through the short list of people in my head who knew all that. None of them would have sent me this anonymous message.
The thought of my little sister in the clutches of bloodsuckers made me sick to my stomach. Yes, these were supposed to be the good guy vampires, but Jen was so impressionable, I worried that she might think their lifestyle was normal . . . enviable, even. I couldn’t afford not to check it out.
I let Fang out of the bedroom then showered and dressed. I headed into the kitchen for something to eat first and saw Gwen and Dan eating lunch in the dining room. Strange—I hadn’t heard him come in.
They were laughing about something and Dan caught Gwen in a careless one-armed hug. It was obvious they really cared about each other. My heart squeezed in envy. I wanted that—the in-jokes, the teasing, the love of a family. Did they have any idea how lucky they were?
Gwen spotted me and waved me over. “I made quesadillas for lunch. Want one?”
Fang popped in through the doggy door then, sniffing eagerly. I’LL TAKE ONE.
“Sure,” I said. I’ll share, I promised Fang
Dan turned around and he looked a little banged-up, with his right arm in a sling and a bandage around his wrist, mostly covered with a button-down shirt.
“How are you feeling?” I asked as Fang lifted his nose toward the bandage and sniffed.
He shrugged. “Well, I won’t win an arm-wrestling contest anytime soon, but I’m fine. I think they disinfected it quickly enough. Can’t imagine what was under that guy’s nails.”
I shuddered, imagining the possibilities. When Fang stopped sniffing and didn’t look worried, I assumed all the vampire cooties were gone. “Hear anything on who they were or why they attacked us?”
“Not really. I talked to Ramirez. They all fit descriptions of those on his most wanted list, but none of them had worked together before that he knew of.”
“Not the type to play well in Alejandro’s organization?”
“On the surface, no. But who knows what the New Blood Movement is really after?”
I shrugged and told him about the text message.
He and Gwen both looked at it, but neither had any more clue than I did who it might be from. I decided to check it out before work.
After we ate lunch and Gwen admonished me to be careful, I looked up the address of the downtown blood bank and drove there on my Valkyrie. Unfortunately, there were no dogs allowed in the building.
I glanced down at Fang. “We’d better not push the service dog angle too much—it’s hard to explain since you’re not wearing a vest or even a collar. And there aren’t any vamps out during the day, anyway.”
TRUE. AND THERE’S NO WAY I’M WEARING ONE OF THOSE SISSY VESTS. AS FOR A COLLAR, FORGET IT.
Couldn’t blame him there. I helped him remove his goggles. “If Jen smells of vamp, can you tell which vamp it is?”
He jumped down to the ground and cocked his head. MAYBE. EAU DE VAMPIRE IS
PRETTY MUCH THE SAME FROM ONE UNDEAD TO ANOTHER, THOUGH THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENCES. I CAN TRY.
Good enough—and it was worth a shot. I found Jen easily enough. She looked about twelve years old in her blond ponytail and sweater set as she served refreshments. The donors at this blood bank came from a slightly better class. Then again, only the impersonal old-fashioned medical donation could be made during the day. The other kind that stained men’s pants and made them look foolish had to wait for the vampires to rise for the night.
Jen’s jugular was still unpunctured, thank heavens. And thank Alejandro’s policy on volunteers.
“Val,” Jen exclaimed and hugged me, though it was a bit stiffer than normal. “I’m sorry for the scene the other day. And I’m real sorry Mom and Dad kicked you out because of me.”
“That’s okay,” I assured her. “It was time for me to move out, anyway. And my partner found me another place right away, so it wasn’t a problem.” Now, to get her within range of Fang’s nose “Can we talk outside?”
“Why?” Jen asked suspiciously.
I cast around for a reason she’d buy. “Because I had to leave my dog outside and I don’t want to leave him alone too long.”
As I led Jen out the door, I added casually, “I hear you’ve left home as well.”
Jen whirled on me. “Is that why you’re here? I thought you of all people would understand.”
“Understand what, Jennifer?”
“That I couldn’t live there anymore, couldn’t take their small-mindedness.”
She had a point, but . . . “They’re just concerned for you,” I said in soothing tones. “They have a right to be.” Odd that Jen would so completely rebel and go over to the dark side, reject her parents. Just last week she’d been all gung-ho to help me hunt down and kill every last vampire on earth. “You promised me you wouldn’t try to find out more about vampires.”
“Yeah, well, I changed my mind,” Jen said with a sniff. “Besides, I’m not doing this for you anymore. I’m doing something important here, helping the Movement save the lives of innocent people by providing the people of the night with safer, more convenient options for feeding their hunger.”
I snorted. That was an interesting way to spin it. “But where will you live? Volunteer positions pay nothing.”