Halo Hunter

by Michele Hauf

  “Depends on who you’re sucking on, actually.” Did I just say that? “Do I need to worry about you biting me?” And that! What was I saying?

  She shook her head. “That’s the reason Antonio has such a hold over me. I’ve taken blood only from him since I was changed. Fact is, I don’t dare drink from a human. It seems so animal, chasing down a human to feed on their blood. So until I do get up the courage, I’ll always rely on Antonio.”

  “Let me see if I got this right. Your freedom is as simple as drinking blood from a human? Do you have to kill that human?”

  “Oh, no, we never kill.”

  I stroked her soft skin and glided a finger over her mouth. Her fangs had retracted, and I controlled the urge to lift her lip and inspect. Hey, I am a curious guy. Vampires exist? And they don’t want to kill me? I could get behind that one hundred percent.

  Although, I was only sure that this vampire didn’t want to kill me. As for the Antonio dude…

  “Bite me,” I said. And the offer was genuine. “Let me give you your freedom, Vinny.”

  “No, Michael, I… That’s very sweet of you, but what if I made a mistake? What if something did go wrong and I killed you? I don’t dare. I could never live with myself if I was responsible for someone’s death.”

  “That Antonio guy really played a number on you.” I leaned over and grabbed the halo. “He wants me and the halo?”

  She nodded.

  “Then he’ll have it if he gives you your freedom.”

  “No!” She gripped my shirt. Every time she touched me it was like being seared by molten fire. I wanted her to brand herself against me. To own her smell and taste.

  Yet the strongest urge was to ensure Antonio never touched her again.

  “If you go to Antonio,” she said, “he’ll kill you.”

  “Then why not just ask for the halo? I don’t understand why he’d want me if he’s only going to kill me. I don’t present a threat to him.”

  “You have halos that he wants. And you can find more.”

  “Yeah, but they won’t do him any good if I’m dead.”

  “Don’t talk like that, Michael. Please, I don’t know what I’d do if you were dead. You’re the only person in this world who actually likes me, and doesn’t tell me what to do.”

  I was trying to be a hero here, and she kept pulling me back from the vanguard with that soft, teasing voice.

  I tossed the halo to the top of my duffel bag and enfolded Vinny in my arms. Kissing her forehead, I moved down to her eyelids. Her lashes tickled my mouth, and it was one of those great tickles that tendered every nerve ending with anticipation.

  “How did you know where I was staying?” I said against her mouth. Slipping a hand along her arm, I circled her wrist and swept her arm behind her back. It was a gentle hold. “You following me?”

  “I could scent you. We can do that. Since I’ve kissed you I sort of have the taste of you on my tongue.”

  “Great. So will Antonio or Stellan the Pale be able to follow you to me?”

  “No. Vampires can’t recognize one another unless they know each other, or physically touch and sense the shimmer. They certainly can’t scent one another. We’re safe.”

  She pressed her body against mine like she wanted to melt into me. I wanted the same thing. If the vampires couldn’t track either of us, I was cool with indulging the moment, because it might never be offered again.

  “I want you naked in my arms, Vinny.”

  She tugged down her dress. It dropped at her feet. “Done.”

  An inhale filled my head with raspberry and ginger. Pure Vinny.

  Drawing my fingers along her thighs, and gliding quickly higher, I claimed her breasts. She shoved my shirt over my head. My jeans unzipped next. I gasped as she reached in to circle my cock with her sure grip.

  “Vinny, you’re making it so hard,” I murmured.

  “I can feel that.”

  I smirked.

  What the hell? I was getting naked with a woman who had fangs, and who had originally intended to bring me to her leader so he could feast on me then throw me to the dogs (make that bats).

  “Michael?”

  She sat on the bed, her head not far from my rigid shaft. My mind snapped back on target. I wouldn’t let it stray anymore.

  “You’ll be my first.” I crawled on top of her and kissed the hair from her shoulders and neck. “Vampire, that is. Be gentle with me.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t bite.”

  “But you can,” I reassured. “You have my permission to take your freedom by drinking my blood, Vinny.”

  “That’s the nicest thing any guy has said to me.”

  Duel laughter echoed in the tiny hotel room as I slid inside the gorgeous girl who had captured my heart with a little trickery and a lot of truth.

  I woke the next morning alone in bed. Sighing, I spread a palm over the rumpled sheets beside me. Cold. She’d left with enough time to beat the sun. Poor girl. I couldn’t imagine never being able to go out in the sun.

  Vinny had once had the sun, for over two decades. It had to be tough for her now.

  God, I wanted her back. Snuggled against my side. Her fingers tickling in the hair at my groin. Her mouth slipping over mine. And her teeth…

  I smoothed a palm along my neck.

  Are you wondering if she went through with it? Did Vinny bite me?

  The hotel door slammed inward. I sat up, expecting to see Vinny, but not at all shocked when it wasn’t her.

  A broad-shouldered figure dressed all in black, including black head wrap and goggles, pointed some kind of modern handheld crossbow at me.

  “Get your pants on, asshole,” he barked.

  Had to be a vampire. No doubt the very same who had shot out my window the other night. Stellan.

  I reached for my pants and shuffled them on. “Not sure what you want, Darth, but I’m not going anywhere with you dressed like that.”

  “You will come with me.”

  “Uh, not feeling it, actually. I’ve a flight out of the country that takes off this afternoon. I’ve got packing—”

  An arrow skimmed my hair and pierced the wall behind me. I controlled my wince. Never let them see you sweat.

  “Violence isn’t going to make me want to share the ride with you, buddy.”

  “You want to see Vinny alive?”

  Hell.

  It made awful, terrible sense. Send the girl out to seduce the mark. She gets cold feet and falls for mark. The leader uses those emotions to bait his trap. And I had bitten the hook and could feel my cheek tearing right now.

  I could refuse. They’d kill Vinny. Maybe.

  Right now, the vampire had exactly what he wanted—me and the halo. They didn’t need to kill Vinny.

  But I didn’t know what mental capacity this Antonio worked with. And I really didn’t want to know Vinny would spend the rest of her immortal life attached to any man who ordered her about.

  I put my hands up. “Fine. Let me put on a shirt and shoes, and then we’ll take a walk.”

  I tugged a black sweater from my duffel and shuffled into my shoes.

  “The halo.” The vamp gestured to my duffel bag.

  I grabbed the halo and walked out the door. The sharp point of the arrow jabbed into my spine. This was going to be an interesting walk.

  Six

  The dark van Stellan had shoved me into, with blacked-out windows and a driver wearing the same ensemble as my bodyguard, traveled beneath the city now. I knew there were tunnels that snaked below Paris, but wasn’t aware a person could actually drive a van through them.

  Clutching the halo with both hands, and wishing it were sharp or had some real supernatural power, I tried to avoid looking at the creep pointing the crossbow at me. One wrong move of his finger and I’d be sporting an arrow through my brain.

  This was insane. All this for a stupid circle of metal? Hell, for all I knew, these were just junk. My mind had been tricking me for a dec
ade, coaxing me to continue the search in hopes that some insane fantasy would come true. That I would finally have something to believe in.

  Well, I had something to believe in. It wasn’t an object or a symbol of someone’s faith. She was a beautiful, desperate woman who needed my help.

  I’d never felt this way before. I’d always done my own thing, gone my own way. No longer. I had to stay alive to ensure Vinny was safe.

  The van parked in a shadowed cavernous space. I hadn’t a clue where I was. Strangely enough, there was a door set into the stone wall. It opened, and I followed Stellan down a hallway that was something right out of a medieval castle. Chunky limestone blocks smelled of mildew, and looked fashioned from the very earth. Torches lined the walls intermittently. Yes, real fire-burning wooden torches.

  Seriously?

  “Betcha those are a pain to keep lit, huh?”

  The vampire walking before me grunted. He’d removed his sun protection gear to reveal a not-so threatening man underneath. He looked like he could be my best buddy, spend the evening on the couch drinking beers and cheering at NASCAR. Until he got hungry.

  “So, does fire kill vampires?”

  “Shut up,” Stellan called back.

  “Just checking.”

  I reached behind my hip and snapped the halo securely to the waistband of my jeans. Hey, I’ve been hunting haloes for a decade; I have all the right equipment. For finding haloes.

  As for fighting vampires, I knew if I let this guy lead me any further into the lair, I was only walking further away from breathing. To my detriment, I’d ignored the lesson about never letting them take you to crime scene two. I wasn’t about to follow the creepy monster down the dark hallway to my doom.

  Gripping a torch from an iron holder, I bent it over my knee and easily broke the ancient wood handle.

  The vampire swung about. I kicked the flaming end toward him, which he stomped on as he charged me.

  Not a smart move, as far as vampires go.

  A gasped “buh” spumed bad breath into my face as the vampire collided with the serrated torch stick. His body shuddered against mine. I felt hot blood seep over my fisted fingers. His eyes widened, seeming to ask, “How could you?”

  “Easy.” I shoved him off me.

  I didn’t drop the bloody stake. Waiting, I watched as he staggered, and hoped upon hope that the stake-exploding-the-vampire thing was true.

  “Ass—” The vampire dispersed to dust before me, settling quickly into a pile of ash and covering the bloody droplets before my feet.

  I studied the blood-tipped stake in hand. “Nice.” Giving it a smart twirl, I tucked it at the side of my waistband like a pistol ready to aim. “Now to get the girl and blow this joint.”

  Vinny’s scream carried down the long, twisting stone hallway. It wasn’t exactly a scream of terror. More like an “I’m pissed, and you’re an asshole” kind of vocalization.

  I ran toward the tall double doors ahead. They were studded with iron nailheads like some kind of castle doors. What was it with the medieval motif? All right, so these were my first vampires. I knew nothing about them. Perhaps their decorating skills had stalled in the fourteenth century.

  Stopping at the doors, I pressed my palm to one and then my ear. I couldn’t hear anything. Until…

  “Don’t be rude, Michael Donovan. Come inside and show yourself.”

  I lifted a foot to kick the door open, then noticed the hinges were on this side, which meant I’d make a fool of myself trying to play the warrior rescuer.

  Pulling open a door, I entered the room with shoulder squared and chin up, hand to the stake tucked at my hip.

  The cavernous room made me wonder how the hell we could still be underground. Stained-glass windows high above let in natural daylight. The windows were the size of my fist, but there were many, and they were in a definite circle. Beams of light streamed down upon the stone floor like intangible bars of a jail cell. Clever design.

  And circled within the beams of light stood Vinny.

  Taking a step toward the light-beam bars, I was blocked by a man who stepped from the side. I hadn’t noticed his presence until he stood directly before me.

  Rich brown eyes beneath thick dark brows eyed me curiously. Dark hair blended into his dark clothing. Fingers clasped together, his straight forefingers were pressed to his lips. The silver ring on his finger displayed an angel with wings—and fangs.

  “Michael Donovan,” he said in a slow, sure voice that dripped with something sticky that I literally felt run down the back of my neck, “we need to talk.”

  Seven

  Vinny met my gaze through the light beams. Arms clasped across her chest, she stood a tiny entity trapped in the middle of…nothing.

  It was the oddest prison. I could walk right over there and put my arms around her and set her free. But that freedom would cut through her like…well, I had no idea. Did sun burn a vampire? Cut them? Work like acid to their flesh?

  I didn’t want to find out.

  “I’ve got what you want.” I unhooked the halo and twirled it a few times around my forefinger before the brooding Antonio. He really did do dark and dangerous well. “What are you willing to trade for it?”

  “It makes little sense to offer you something in trade, when what I want is the halo and you,” Antonio said. “That means I’d be getting back whatever it is I’d offered in trade to you. Very unpractical.”

  “I’m not part of the bargain. You want the halo to lure in angels? It’s yours. In exchange, I’ll walk out of here with Vinny, if you don’t mind.”

  “Ah?” He glanced to the cage of light. “I see my soldier does her work well. She made you fall in love with her, eh? So you would then do anything for her?”

  I glanced to Vinny. She shook her head fiercely, as if to say, “It wasn’t like that.”

  I was supposed to believe her over the vampire leader? Yet I did. It hadn’t been a trick, the two of us coming together. Seducing me may have initially been Vinny’s intention; she’d been forced to it as a means to secure her own freedom.

  If I believed in anything, I believed that.

  “I guess so,” I responded to Antonio. “Poor pitiful me, getting lured into the big bad vampire’s lair by a pretty girl. That is so cliché. Guess that means I should just take the halo and run.”

  “Stop!”

  I paused with my body twisted toward the door. It had been a good play. Now I knew Antonio wasn’t willing to give it all up. He wanted the halo, with or without me.

  The vampire stood before me like that. It was as if he’d floated. “The halo is mine,” he said in a horror-movie growl.

  “You’ll have to—”

  He grabbed the halo from my grip—and landed twenty feet away, dangling the thing on two fingers. In his other hand he held the makeshift wooden stake taken from my hip, still dripping with his ally’s blood.

  Shit.

  “Let him go, Antonio!”

  “Vinny, what will the sunlight do to you?” I called.

  “It’ll burn me.”

  “To a crisp? Or just a bit of a sunburn?”

  Antonio chuckled and tossed the halo in the air, catching it smartly. “She’ll be crispy, halo hunter. She’s new. Only takes a few seconds to burn away her flesh and sizzle the muscle and blood beneath. Shall I show you?”

  “You would sacrifice your pet soldier?” I challenged. “Sounds like you have a thing for Vinny, keeping her so close and only letting her drink from you. I’m guessing you won’t risk her life.”

  “You guess right. Which makes this whole situation quite humorous. You feeling you hadn’t a leg to stand on unless you handed over the goods. And to think you thought she was actually in danger.”

  Antonio clasped the stake in the same hand as the halo. With his free hand he flipped a switch on the wall. We both glanced toward the stained glass windows above. Screens closed over the windows, blocking the light, and releasing Vinny from her prison.
r />   “Come to me, Vinny,” Antonio cooed.

  She remained where she’d been imprisoned, looking from the vampire to me. I’d hate to be in her position. To be forced to choose. And much as I hoped she’d choose me, I wouldn’t fault her if she chose comfort and safety.

  Because if she did choose me, it was a guarantee she’d never again be safe.

  “Go chase angels, and leave her alone,” I called to the leader.

  “Chase them?” Antonio spread his arms out in declaration. “But I cannot chase anything until I’ve summoned it.”

  “You’re summoning angels? I don’t get it.”

  “You surprise me, halo hunter. You’ve been tracking halos for a decade and you know so little of the mythology surrounding these lovely devices?”

  “They’re just cheap pieces of tin.” I swallowed, feeling the lie cut into my heart. I did believe. I didn’t need to see proof anymore. I just wanted to hold Vinny once again. “How does the halo help you to summon an angel?”

  “It doesn’t. But it can be used to lure them to me after they’ve come to earth again. The lure of a mortal soul is very great. I’ve uncovered an ancient spell to summon the Fallen from their void of imprisonment. The first has recently surfaced.”

  “You brought a fallen angel to earth with a little bit of hocus pocus?”

  “It’s more complicated than you make it sound, but basically, yes.”

  I kept Vinny in the corner of my vision. She was edging toward the circumference where the light bars had once been. “And now what?”

  “We’re going to track the Fallen as it makes its way to the muse.”

  “Wait. The muse? You’re losing me again. There’s so much terminology, a guy’s gotta explain things slowly for newbies like me.”

  The vampire’s sigh was the weirdest thing. But hell, he was talking and not paying attention to Vinny, which was all that mattered. “A muse is the one woman on this earth with whom the angel can mate to produce a Nephilim child.”

  “I see. And then you’re going to swoop in and steal the child and then what? The apocalypse?”