Paranormal Talent Agency Omnibus

by Heather Silvio

  “You used me.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Ryan stood and paced the small room. “I should have known something was up when you were so quick to blame Jim.”

  “The police arrested him,” I pointed out.

  He stopped moving. “I knew he was innocent. You insisted he was guilty.”

  Anger rose in me. “Wait a minute. I never insisted he was guilty.”

  “You sure seemed certain of yourself.”

  “People are usually who they appear to be,” I snapped.

  “Yes. They. Are.”

  We glared at each other for a few long seconds before speaking. “I admit I was wrong,” I allowed. “But why are you so mad at me?” I was genuinely perplexed by the strength of his reaction, and my own anger drained away.

  His heartbeat increased. “Why? You don’t understand why?”

  “No,” I whispered. “Please, tell me.”

  At my whisper, his expression softened. “You were working both sides, making me believe that you and I…” The naked fear in his eyes at this unfinished statement startled me and I looked away. “That you were interested in finding out the truth,” he adjusted his comment.

  “I was. I am,” I insisted, standing to approach him. His expression hardened again and I stopped short of reaching out. “I wasn’t working both sides. I don’t even like my ex-husband,” I finished, the revulsion so strong in my voice that I couldn’t believe Ryan didn’t hear it.

  Ryan closed his eyes and breathed deeply. “I don’t know.” His eyes reopened and I saw sadness there. “It’s too convenient. You point the finger at Jim. Derek just happens to come to town. We go to his audition to gather information. Then, you insist you need to cozy up to him to get the truth.”

  Anger flared bright and painful again. “I did not insist I needed to cozy up to him. I told you that was the best way of getting the information from him. And it was. It worked. We got his confession. And, dammit, you agreed to the plan.”

  Ryan fidgeted, maybe unsure what to do with my comments. “I did. Because I didn’t understand what was really at play.”

  “What are you talking about?” I was embarrassed to realize I yelled this and stopped to focus my thoughts before speaking again. “There was nothing else at play besides finding out what really happened to Monica and Sophie. That was all.”

  “Let’s say for argument’s sake that I believe you.”

  Hope filled me and I searched his face for understanding.

  “What about the other nonsense?”

  I opened my mouth and nothing came out. You would think after nearly 100 years, I would be more adept at handling humans when they found out I was a vampire. Of course, I was usually much better at hiding it.

  “Nothing to say,” he taunted.

  “I don’t know what to say,” I admitted and his smirk disappeared, his shoulders slumping.

  “Do you really believe that you’re vampires? Why would you make something like that up? The only reason I can think of is to try to freak me out, to keep me from going to the police about your ex-husband. And that brings me back to why I would believe you were working both sides, and really don’t want to turn him in.” Ryan said this in a rush, and my mouth fell open in shock. No wonder he was mad at me.

  I opened and closed my mouth several times, trying to find the right words to explain. To make him believe. He crossed his arms over his chest, putting his wall even higher. Nevertheless, I reached out again and placed my fingertips on his forearm. He didn’t pull away, but the muscle underneath tightened in response.

  “Ryan. It genuinely is not like that. You are correct that I don’t want you to go to the police.” I articulated, choosing my words oh so carefully. His lips thinned with his displeasure at my words.

  “Not for the reason that you think.” I closed my eyes briefly and then stared directly into his. “You must hear me. I know it sounds crazy. I wouldn’t believe it if I wasn’t one. Derek and I are vampires.”

  He turned away with an eye roll and shake of his head, knocking my hands off. I reached back out, stopped a hair’s breadth from his shoulder before dropping my hand back to my side. “If you go to the police, I don’t know what he might do. It’s better if you let my people handle it.”

  Ryan laughed then. I heard the undercurrent of anger and hysteria, knew this was not a happy laugh. He faced me again. “Your people?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow. “You should leave.” He sounded so resigned that I wanted to engulf him in a hug, comfort him while he tried to process this information turning his world upside down.

  I didn’t. I knew it was unwanted. “Okay,” was all I said.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to reach out to me again.”

  I nodded, in understanding if not agreement. “Goodbye, Ryan,” I whispered as I turned from him. I trudged to the front door. Hoping he’d call out. Knowing he wouldn’t. Resisting my own urge to turn to look at him one last time.

  Exiting the house, I pulled the door closed behind me. I walked to my car, sat inside, turned the key. I drove without awareness back to my condo. My deadened heart felt even more hollow.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “Evelyn?”

  “Good grief, Robin! You surely know it’s not a good idea to sneak up on a vampire, right?” I asked the talent agent who materialized out of a dark corner of the parking garage when I exited my car.

  “You were seen again with Derek at the Cosmopolitan and the councilwoman would like an update on his role,” Robin Landon spoke like I’d said nothing.

  Swallowing my irritation, I stared at the insipid face of the minion. “Do you guys have nothing better to do than track our movements?”

  Robin did not respond; she simply waited.

  I sighed. Might as well get it over with. “Yes, Derek and I met at the Cosmopolitan. Did you know they have amazing chocolate martinis at the Chandelier Bar?”

  Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “You don’t drink.”

  “No, I don’t.” I left her actual question unanswered.

  “And?”

  “Oh, fine. I imagine somebody else could provide the information too,” I finally allowed. “Derek killed Monica Freeman on accident – mistaken identity – and then killed Sophie Chase in an ill-thought-out plan to hide the first murder.”

  Robin’s eyebrows furrowed again.

  “You’re not immortal. Keep doing that and you’ll get wrinkles,” I offered.

  “That’s it?”

  “Man, you’re no fun,” I told the woman. “There was an actual hit ordered, but that person has gone underground.”

  Robin sighed. Out of irritation or in response to my information, I couldn’t tell. “Anything else?”

  “Nope,” I responded cheerfully. “And, please pass along a message to your boss. The next time the councilwoman has a question for me, she can ask me herself. I’m not interested in continuing to parlay with lackeys,” I stated pointedly. I strode away from Robin but didn’t miss her ears redden at the insult.

  Probably not a good idea to push the demon. Whatever.

  *****

  When I awoke from my slumber the next evening as the sun was setting, a glance at my phone informed me that the past day was quite exciting. Notifications of a series of increasingly frantic texts from Catherine filled my phone’s screen.

  I know you’re sleeping. Call me when you get up.

  The you-know-what is about to hit the fan; call me.

  The sun is setting; are you up yet?? Call me!!

  Evie! I have news about Ryan and your ex.

  That last text, in particular, worried me. I had already been uncertain about whether or not Derek would stay away from Ryan. I mean, Derek clearly understood my threat to report him to the Family if he harmed Ryan. But this was Derek. His ability to think ahead was directly proportional to his ego’s belief that he could get away with anything.
<
br />   With a groan of frustration, I called Catherine. She answered on the first ring.

  “Evie, thank goodness you called!”

  “What’s going on with Ryan and Derek?”

  “Did you know Ryan reported Derek to the police? Said he’s the killer?”

  I was silent for a beat while I processed the information. I had truly hoped Ryan would not do this. Of course, I never pushed the issue last night.

  “You knew!” Catherine answered her own question.

  “I had hoped he wouldn’t,” I explained, my mind racing.

  “What does this mean? Did you guys find proof that Derek did it? What will happen next? I mean, they can’t really incarcerate a vampire. Right?”

  I chuckled at Catherine’s rapid-fire questions in conversation with herself. “Take a breath, Catherine.”

  A giggle came across the line in response. “Sorry. You know how excitable I am.”

  “No different than me,” I assured her with a commiserating eye roll. I quickly brought Catherine up to speed with the events of last night.

  Between me and Derek. Between me, Derek, and Ryan. And, finally, between me and Ryan. Oh, yeah, and between me and Robin in the parking garage.

  “Wow, you had a busy night,” she said, in the ultimate understatement.

  “How do you know Ryan reported Derek for the murders?”

  “Oh, right. After the second murder involved the entertainment industry, I asked a friend with Metro to keep me updated. My source called this afternoon to give me a heads up that an actor had come in and pointed the finger at a producer in town doing a movie. Even before he gave me the names, I figured it was Ryan and Derek.”

  “Clearly,” I agreed. “Did your source say anything else?”

  “Oh yeah. They’re looking to bring Derek in as a person of interest in the murders.”

  “We both know what that means.”

  “They think he’s their best suspect. Confidentially, my source said they never really thought Jim was the killer, especially when the second one seemed so flimsy.”

  “Why did they arrest him then?”

  “District attorney who has sights on the mayor’s office. Maybe even the governor.”

  “Does the politicking ever end?”

  “I don’t even need to answer that.”

  “No, you don’t.” I paused to think. “As far as you know, though, Metro hasn’t arrested Derek yet?”

  “I haven’t gotten another call, no.”

  “Ryan really should have let me handle this,” I groused. “Now the idiot has gone and put himself directly in Derek’s crosshairs.”

  “You’re pretty sure he’ll kill him?”

  “For implicating him in murder? Absolutely. I was fairly confident I convinced Derek not to harm Ryan, and to let me handle it. But, now? I’d say all bets are off at this point. My only hope is that I have time since Derek just woke up too.”

  “Then I’d better let you go. Save the man in distress.”

  I heard the smile in her voice, knew she was joking to lighten the mood.

  “Thanks. Call me if you hear anything else.”

  “Of course. Good luck.”

  We disconnected and I sat for a moment in bed clutching my phone. Hoping against hope, I called Ryan.

  “You have reached the voicemail of Ryan Walter. Sorry I missed your call. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”

  I ended the call and stared blankly ahead.

  If you’re not dead already.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Uh-oh. I parked my car behind Derek’s black Porsche 911 and flew up the walkway to Ryan’s house. My heightened hearing already knew they were fighting. They were also still talking, so that was a good sign. Mostly.

  I barged in the front door. Both men’s heads swiveled to me, registered who I was, and then swung back toward each other. They were clearly invested in this fight. Derek stood stock still about half a foot from Ryan, who had grabbed ahold of Derek’s shoulders. Interestingly, Derek didn’t appear to be physically fighting back. This was good, since with his vampire strength, Ryan didn’t stand a chance. But, it was disconcerting. The smirk on his face though was exactly what I expected.

  “Why are you even here? I didn’t invite you in,” Ryan taunted. I rolled my eyes at the attempted vampire insult. Even though Ryan didn’t believe we were really vampires, he apparently knew the mythology. Although it wasn’t true. We could go anywhere we wanted. Humans didn’t have to invite us in.

  “A little birdy told me that you went to the police,” Derek slowly spoke. His eyes flicked to me and then back. “I thought we had an understanding.”

  “An understanding? You’re a killer! I made it very clear I would go to the police.” He abruptly released Derek, who smoothed down his rumpled shirt.

  Derek turned to me then. “Actually, I thought you said this was handled.”

  I shrugged. “What can I say? I learned about it at the same time you did.”

  Derek and I simultaneously turned to face Ryan, who wore such an expression of disgust that I wanted to cry.

  Ryan and I made eye contact and I saw sadness warring with the disgust, and this heartened me. Maybe we could still fix us. This. I mean, this.

  “Gentlemen,” I urged them calmly. “Let’s talk this through. There has to be a satisfactory solution.”

  Derek snorted. Really. “Kitten, you know the only solution is this human’s death.”

  Ryan and I talked over each other.

  “Dang it, Derek, don’t call me kitten!”

  “Did you just threaten me?”

  Ryan took a step toward Derek, who flexed his muscles. Vampires took peacocking to new heights.

  I stepped between the two men. “Seriously, nobody has to die.” I shot daggers at Derek. “There is a solution.”

  Derek remained silent. Ryan grudgingly asked, “What is the solution?”

  “Ryan, you and I want Jim out of jail, right?” He nodded.

  “Derek, you and I want to keep vampire society out of the spotlight, right?” A very pregnant pause before he nodded.

  “Then the answer is to give the police an iron-clad killer,” I finished triumphantly.

  Ryan sneered. “Your answer is to frame someone else? We have the killer right here. He admitted it.” This last said almost desperately, trying to convince me.

  Derek shook his head dismissively. “Nice try, Evie. No. The answer is to kill this human.”

  I turned to face the true threat and squared off with Derek. We were both vampires; he knew besting me was not a forgone conclusion, like it would be with Ryan. “You’ll have to go through me first.” My voice was deadly quiet. Ryan’s breathing and heart rate quickened.

  “No, Evie.” Ryan sounded worried and that made me happy, for some odd reason.

  With the element of surprise, and seeing my split-second distraction, Derek struck. He pushed me sideways, where I fell rather unceremoniously to the carpet. Boring brown, but rather plush, I thought distractedly.

  By the time I rose to my feet, Derek had grabbed Ryan around the throat and begun squeezing. Ryan fought the best he could. He was zero match for the killer vampire. Ryan kicked his legs out, aiming for Derek’s crotch. Hit, Derek winced. That was it.

  Ryan’s hands grasped at Derek’s, trying unsuccessfully to wrench them free from his neck. Ryan was turning an unhealthy shade of purple. I jumped into the fray with a sigh.

  Derek released Ryan’s neck after I kicked his knees out from under him from behind. Ryan coughed violently, filling his lungs with air, and I was pleased to see his face was pinking back up nicely. Derek had already recovered from my hit and grabbed me in a bear hug, his mouth an inch from my ear.

  Despite the action, he remained bloodless and cold, cool air from his words tingling my earlobe.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, too.”

  “You
won’t get the chance,” I whispered as I launched us, still in an embrace, back toward the living room wall. The plaster cracked where we hit and Derek’s grip on me loosened.

  I threw him to the side, where he crashed through a small wooden end table, splintered pieces surrounding him on the ground.

  Derek shook his head at me, but when he rose, he headed for Ryan, shouting, “Let’s end this!”

  I grabbed one of the larger broken pieces of the end table and shot toward Derek. I connected with Derek at the same time he connected with Ryan.

  A jab to the jaw and Ryan slumped to the floor.

  Derek didn’t go in for the kill, however. He turned to me, eyes widened in shock, the tip of the makeshift wooden stake pointing through his chest at me, accusing. “You…killed…me,” he uttered.

  Derek disintegrated. I watched his body slowly turn to ash that fell to the carpet before blinking entirely out of existence. Like he had never existed at all.

  Ryan moaned while he slowly regained consciousness. We sat on the carpet, me cradling his head in my arms, wishing I could cry. Like a human. Conflicting thoughts zigzagged back and forth in my mind, fighting with each other for dominance.

  I killed my sire.

  He tried to kill Ryan.

  I killed my sire.

  He killed many humans.

  I killed my sire.

  Ryan’s eyes opened, stilling the circular thoughts in my head. His strong heartbeat assured me he would be okay. Derek’s punch might have knocked him unconscious, but nothing appeared broken. Ryan smiled briefly before frowning. Remembering. He struggled to sit up. To get away from me. We both scrambled to our feet. Ryan’s gaze moved wildly around the room, looking for Derek.

  “He’s gone,” I explained.

  “You let him leave,” he responded incredulously.

  “No.” I hesitated.

  “Then where is he?”

  I winced at his anger. “He’s gone. Really gone.”

  Ryan shook his head, not understanding.

  “I…staked him.”

  Ryan snorted. “Please, tell me the truth.”