He set the box down and went across the room to the phone on the wall. “Dante here.”
“We have another slaying.”
Dante’s heart sank at Digger’s voice coming over the line. “Who is it?”
“I just got a call from Gaston. Zebulon’s wife called him. She found his body in the car in the garage. Zebulon still sat in the driver’s seat, his head was on the passenger’s.”
“Fuck.” Dante sank down onto a wooden crate as his knees went weak.
“The cops are crawlin’ all over Zebulon’s now. I just turned on the news, and it’s on every local channel. They’re claiming there’s a serial killer on the loose.”
“That’s not far off the mark.” He swiped his fingers through his hair then pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do we know when it happened?”
“Zebulon’s wife said he called last night around eight to say he’d be home late. He had a last-minute meeting, but she doesn’t know who with. She said it’s not out of the ordinary for ’im to be out until midnight with clients. She went to bed ’round eleven and tried gettin’ a hold of him on his cell this mornin’. She had some errands to run and went to the garage, and there was his car with his body in it. Gaston figures the slayer snuck in before the garage door shut. There wasna sign of forced entry—at least that’s what Gaston’s contacts at the PD are sayin’.”
Nausea rolled through Dante’s gut, combined with a twinge of fear. So far, all the killings had happened at night, so they could be dealing with a youngster, but the strength it took to decapitate a vampire...
Digger’s voice cut into his thoughts. “Gaston wants you, me and Evan down at The Starlight tomorrow night, tryin’ to gather information. He’s convinced this has to do with the Southerners.” He sighed. “Systematically take out all the older, experienced vampires in Seattle and move in the younger upstarts to do things their way. I just donna know. It’s too...neat.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why wasna Gaston the first target? Wouldn’t they be wiser to start at the top? Get rid of the oldest first, if that’s the goal? If I was doin’ it, I’d take out Gaston and work my way down the chain until everyone else fell into line, not the other way around.”
Dante didn’t know. Extermination of their race had been sought by slayers for a millennia or longer, probably since the first vampire had been turned around the time of Christ. Slayers were normally humans with a grudge, or a newly turned vampire who was pissed off at their situation.
“I’m one of the youngest of the older generation,” Dante said.
“Yeah, but ya’ve fought slayers before. Look at who he’s taken out so far. The three of us older generation who’ve never fought. Hell, mate, Zebulon wasna even trained in warfare.”
“All of us left are, though. We’ve all killed before. So what does that mean? He’s scared?”
“Could be.”
Dante shook his head. This guy wasn’t scared of anything. He’d taken out two vampires right outside The Starlight. “I don’t buy it. There’s got to be some system he’s following, so if it’s the weakest first, who is next?”
The silence answered his question. They both figured he was the next target.
“Son of a bitch,” he said on a sigh.
“Be home before dark, mate. I’ll call and take a few days off work. We need to stick together.”
He nodded in agreement. “Yes. I will be home before dark.”
“Watch yer back.”
The line went dead, and he reached to hang up the phone. He stared at the stacks of boxes and shelves of nearly priceless antiquities. He’d spent his life gathering the rare and beautiful, and in a few days who would care? He could be killed and there would be no one to carry on his legacy. Only Digger was there to mourn his passing—provided Digger survived.
He swiped his hand down his face and stood up. How did he defend himself when he didn’t know from where the threat came? At least with VanBueren, he knew the killer. The slayer who had haunted the Seattle sect at the turn of the last century had not made himself a secret—his only goal had been to wipe out as many vampires as possible before he was killed.
Just when things had begun looking up for him... Fuck. Wendy. Their date for Friday night. He headed to his office and grabbed the phonebook to look up the number for the doctor’s office where she worked.
“Thomas and Merovia Health and Wellness. This is Wendy, how may I direct your call?”
His heart tightened at the sweet sound of her voice. “Hello, Wendy.”
Her quick intake of breath sent a shiver down his spine. “Hi, Dante.”
He smiled despite himself, but it was short lived. “I have some bad news, my sweet. I must cancel our date for tomorrow night. I have some business I must attend.”
“Oh...” The disappointment was clear in her voice, and it echoed what was in his heart. But now more than ever he had to keep her away from himself. If he was next on the slayer’s list, he could not put her in jeopardy.
“Please do not be upset,” he said softly. “I...” He sighed, wishing he could tell her everything, explain why he couldn’t be with her right now. “I must leave town for a few days.” The lie made him flinch. How could he have a relationship with her when it started this way?
“When...” Wendy sighed, and when she spoke again her tone was too filled with cheer. “Have a great trip, then. Hope everything goes well.”
“Wendy—”
“I’ve got to get back to work. Thanks for the call.”
“Sweet—”
The line went dead. She’d hung up on him, and deep down he knew she thought he was blowing her off. He’d seen too much insecurity in her eyes when she looked at him, heard it in her voice the other night when she’d ask him what happens now. She didn’t trust easily, and here he was lying to her.
But her safety depended on her knowing nothing. Above all, he could not put her life in danger. If something happened to her, he’d never forgive himself. He’d rather never see her again than to let this evil touch her.
—
“Watch the front for me?” Wendy said to Cathy as she hung up the phone. “I gotta go—” She motioned toward the back as her throat closed up. When Cathy nodded and opened her mouth to say something, Wendy rushed toward the staff bathroom. She locked herself in and leaned against the door, sucking in deep breaths, trying to keep from bursting into tears.
She’d known it was all too good to be true. Dante had time to come to his senses and didn’t want to see her again.
Damn it, she knew she shouldn’t have let herself feel anything toward him. She’d tried. Really, really tried. But he’d been so sweet, so...
Love, Dante. He’d signed the note, Love, Dante.
She touched her ears and the earrings he’d sent her. Moving to the mirror over the sink, she looked at herself. Little lines fanned out from the corners of her eyes—crows’ feet. Her hair... Under the bright fluorescent lights there was no missing the shiny gray hairs mixed in with her auburn. She bit her bottom lip, the lip gloss she’d applied earlier now gone.
Shaking her head, she sighed. Maybe he was telling the truth and he had to go out of town for business. Maybe he finally saw what she saw whenever she looked in the mirror. Either way, it didn’t matter in the greater scheme of her life. She’d known going in it was just a passing affair. But it would have been nice if she could have had that one night with him.
The memory of their hurried sexual encounter was never far from her mind. At odd times her body would tingle, and her nipples would tighten when a vision of his handsome face, buried against her pussy, floated through her mind. Or the way he’d touched her, held her, as if he cherished her. How his long, thick cock had filled her as no other ever had, and how he’d seemed to find as much pleasure within her body as she’d taken from him.
A knock at the door made her jump.
“Wendy? You okay in there?” Cathy called.
She cleared her throat.
“Yeah. Fine. Be out in a sec.”
A week, she decided as she ran cool water from the tap over her palms then patted her face. She’d give him a week to call her again. If she hadn’t heard from him by next Friday, she’d know he hadn’t been as interested as he’d pretended.
After drying her hands and blotting her cheeks with a paper towel, she opened the door.
Cathy stood across the hall, arms folded and brow pulled into a concerned frown. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. Just had to go.”
Cathy shook her head. “Liar. What’s wrong?”
Wendy shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it. “That guy that sent me the flowers the other day...he just canceled our date for tomorrow night.”
“Oh, honey...”
“No. I’m fine.” She forced a smile, but it was difficult. “He’s got some business meeting or something he’s got to go out of town for.”
Cathy’s look told her she didn’t believe that story, either.
Wendy shrugged again and headed back up front. The waiting room was empty, and she sat down at her computer to work on dictation. As she reached for her headphones, she stopped and stared at the phone. There was absolutely no reason she had to sit at home on a Friday night feeling sorry for herself. If she did, she’d just order another large pizza and eat the whole thing, along with the rest of the half gallon of rocky road in her freezer, and gain five pounds by Monday.
She grabbed the phone and dialed Candice’s office. “Hey,” she said when her friend answered. “Is your invitation still open for tomorrow night?”
“Uh...yeah...of course. But I thought you had a date.”
“Something came up, and now I’m free. What time should I meet you there?”
“Ten. And I’m glad you’re coming.”
Wendy smiled at the honest pleasure she heard in Candice’s voice. “Yeah. Me, too. See ya then.” She could do this. A new year and a new Wendy. She’d stop at the drugstore on the way home and pick up a bottle of hair dye. Hell, she might as well pick up a new outfit, too. Something sexy that told the men she was looking. Maybe she wouldn’t find Mr. Right at The Starlight, but she sure as hell could find Mr. Right Now. Why couldn’t she be a modern woman and have a few flings before she got too old? Everyone else did. Surely there was someone out there with whom she could have a few hot nights tearing up the sheets.
She slumped in her chair and stared at the flying windows on her screen saver. Who was she kidding? She wanted Dante, not some manslut. She’d rather have one more night with him than a hundred nights with strangers.
What the hell. She could still do her hair and maybe pick up a new outfit. She hadn’t gone shopping in ages. Makeup. She’d go have her makeup done at the department store. She didn’t have to be hunting for a man in order to make herself feel better and look a little better. Glancing down at her dark blue scrubs, she sighed. She had to do something to get out of this slump.
Chapter Nine
The stench of sweaty bodies, sexual arousal, and desperation stung Dante’s nose as he entered The Starlight with Digger. Every time he came here, he hated it more. The throb of techno music beat in opposition to his own heart, making him stagger a bit.
“Ya need to feed, mate,” Digger said, pulling him down to speak into his ear over the music.
He wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t. He needed to keep up his strength in order to fight their unseen foe. He carried weapons, but if he was too weak to use them, they wouldn’t do much good.
“Where’s Evan?” Dante asked, scanning the full house. Just before ten on a Friday night, and the place was packed to capacity.
Digger shrugged. “He said he’d meet us here.”
Dante started toward the bar to get himself a drink, pushing his way through the grinding, bumping bodies. He might as well feed before Evan arrived. As he ordered his shot of tequila, he scanned the single women hanging around the bar. Three were together, and he always tried to avoid pulling one away from a group. One was a vampire he recognized. She winked at him and grinned, showing her fangs. He chuckled and shook his head. She was obviously on the hunt, too.
As he dropped the bill on the counter for his drink, he was jostled from behind. He turned to find an attractive blonde woman.
“Hey, sorry,” she shouted over the music and waved her hand toward the crowd of dancers. “Apple martini,” she told the bartender before she looked up at him and batted her fake eyelashes.
She didn’t smell too bad. There were several men’s pheromones on her, but nothing fresh.
“Let me buy that for you,” he offered as he reached into his pocket for another bill.
She grinned. “Thanks.”
He waited until she’d taken a sip of her drink, then gave her his patented I desire you grin. Her eyes widened slightly, and then a slow come-hither grin spread over her full, scarlet-painted lips.
“Slow song in one,” Digger informed him from behind.
Dante tried to psych himself up to feed. He leaned down to the woman’s ear and murmured, “Dance with me, beautiful.” Without giving her time to deny him, he slipped her drink from her hand, passed it off to Digger, then took her hand to lead her onto the dance floor. He pulled her into his arms just as the hard techno beat dropped into a slow pop song.
“Oh,” she said in surprise when he lifted her hand to his shoulder. “I like a man who knows what he wants,” she murmured and swayed her pelvis against his.
He raised an eyebrow and pretended interest in her as he began the mesmerizing process, looking deep into her eyes, hypnotizing her.
The woman’s eyes glassed over, and she stumbled. He pulled her tight against him with one arm, at the same time raising her left wrist to his mouth.
A scent hit him that made him pause. Lilacs and purity. He looked up, breaking eye contact with the woman in his arms, to see Wendy a few feet away. A look of pain etched her gorgeous face, while anger flared in her bright green eyes.
Agony and fury pierced Wendy so hard she didn’t know if she should cry or beat them both over the head. This sure wasn’t the first time her friend had moved in on a guy she’d claimed as her own, but it was the first time it hurt so bad. And Dante was supposed to be out of town on business. Instead, he was hanging out in a nightclub, staring into her best friend’s eyes as if she were the only woman on earth—the same look he’d given her and she’d believed in.
Candice’s eyes widened when she turned to see her. “Wendy! You made it!” She pulled out of Dante’s arms and came toward her.
No way was she ready to speak to Candice. If she said anything to the woman right now, she could promise it would be the last words ever uttered between them. Right this moment, she hated the woman deeper than she thought physically possible.
Wendy turned and started through the crowd, shoving her way between the throng of dancers. She had to get out. Get away. She needed time to process before she dealt with Candice. And Dante? He could just go stick it where the sun didn’t shine!
When she looked up, she realized she’d taken a wrong turn. Instead of the passageway leading outside, she wound up in the short hall to the bathrooms. She turned to go the other direction, but Candice was right there.
“Wendy. What’s wrong? Where are you going?”
“How could you? How did you find him? I never told you anything!” She bit her tongue. She hadn’t meant to have an outburst in public, but the tears stung her eyes, and her throat tightened. It didn’t help when Dante came up behind Candice.
“Wendy. Sweetheart. Let me explain.”
Explain? Her hands shook where she fisted them at her sides. Her whole body shook. Her heart had been ripped out, and Candice acted as naïve as always, and Dante wanted to explain.
Tears blurred her vision, but she didn’t let them fall.
“Don’t you call me sweetheart, you asshole. You’re supposed to be out of town on business!” She tried to shove past him, but he blocked the narrow hallway and held ou
t his hands to stop her.
“Wait. Wendy. Please.”
“This is the dude that sent you flowers?” Candice asked. “He just picked me up at the bar. I’ve never seen him before tonight.”
Wendy shoved him then, hard, her palms flat against his solid chest. She wasn’t a violent person, but right now she wanted to hurt, to inflict the kind of pain sucking the soul out of her body.
Dante wound his arms around her and held her against his chest. She fought with all of her strength, but it didn’t seem to faze him. She kicked at his shins, scratched his neck, and called him every bad name she could come up with. He held her in a tight yet pain-free embrace that hurt her even more than if he’d slapped her. She’d found such happiness in his arms. The tears came then, and she fought all the harder.
“Shh, Wendy. Please. Let me explain. Let me explain.”
“Hey! Let go of her you two-timing jackass!” Candice went after him with her little purse, whacking him on the head. He turned his back on her and let her pummel his shoulder instead.
A sob tore from Wendy’s throat, and she stopped fighting. His voice was so low, so gentle in her ear. His big, gentle hands held her against his body. She knew what she’d seen, but shouldn’t she hear him out? Give him a chance to explain?
No. No. She wasn’t going to let someone treat her this badly ever again. She was worth more than this.
“It’s not what you think,” he murmured in her ear, cupping the back of her head in that loving way that had melted her before.
“I hate you,” she said in a tightly restrained voice. “Put me down.”
“Not until you let me explain.”
“You were making out with my friend. What’s to explain? I saw it. I saw you.” She shoved at his shoulders, and he lowered her to the floor but kept a tight hold around her waist.
“I wasn’t making out with her—” The purse Candice wielded landed hard against his ear, and he turned on her. “Knock it off. Give me a minute to talk to Wendy.”
Dante’s Salvation Page 10