ShiftingHeat

by Lynne Connolly

  With a great shout, he erupted. She felt his essence moving up, filling him with uncontrollable pleasure.

  She drank him down, every drop, every delicious part of his climax and then rested, letting her dragon subside into sleep. She felt as sated as if she’d come too, and she wasn’t entirely sure she hadn’t. One of the gradual climaxes that arrive in great waves and then subside like the tide going out rather than fireworks exploding.

  After making sure she had every drop of him, she let him help her up into his arms and lay there, content. He kissed her hair, then when she lifted her chin, her lips. She opened her mouth and he swept in to share the taste and then she felt a little flutter in the region of her clit like an aftershock.

  His incredibly tender gesture had pushed her over the edge.

  She’d remember his taste for the rest of her life. Just as she’d remember the way he cradled her in his arms afterward as they drifted off to sleep.

  *

  The next day Faye had to dress in yesterday’s clothes. She left off the panties and when Andros saw the lacy garment on the bathroom floor, he leered and promised retribution later for her taking them off. She loved it, but she decided to make use of the spare set of clothes she kept in the office or her girlfriends would totally destroy her. His levity helped her to cope with the devastating events of the day before, helped her begin the process of putting it into place and reordering her life. She had a new boyfriend and one ex-friend. That was all. The rest would come with time. Before she left STORM, she was issued a blue ankle bracelet and basic instructions. To keep Andros with her, in her mind, to contact him if she thought anything was amiss, and to meet with him later. STORM was having Nordheim’s office searched and the contents boxed, leaving it ready for the next incumbent, who happened to be Serena Duval under the name of Casey Burrows.

  Faye’s girlfriends were waiting avidly for her to show up, as it happened. She walked into the main office of the department and they all looked up. Lara was there, and she had the day off, Faye knew for sure. Three women, eyes gleaming, in an otherwise empty office. “So tell us,” Cathy said without preamble. “Where did you get to after yesterday’s drama? And was he good, was he worth it?”

  She tried for the dignified response. “They took me in to STORM for questioning. I stood near the poor guy who got stabbed, so they wanted to know what had happened.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Lara waved away the response. “Not buying it. You were holding hands with a blond guy on crutches. You telling me that was out of terror? Don’t even go there, girl. You were with him before it all started.”

  “I want to know what went on after I left.”

  “Sure you do.” Rina grinned. “In short, not much. A lot of talk, some interviews, then ‘back to work, slaves’ and we were done. So tell us. Who is the tall, blond stranger?”

  Faye surrendered to the inevitable. “His name’s Andros Zelinski. He’s a computer science student.”

  The girls’ mouths formed perfect Os. Lara was the first to speak. If Faye had put money on it, she’d have given the sassy blonde evens. “A student? You’re dating a student?”

  Faye shrugged. They had to know. Andros wouldn’t leave her alone here. They’d decided to go into this as a couple, so she bowed to the inevitable. “He’s doing his PhD, so it’s not as bad as it sounds. He has a job.” She paused. “At STORM.”

  Okay, surely Cathy didn’t have to scream. It nearly took out her eardrums. “The lion’s den! I thought you joined the anti-STORM group!”

  “I just wanted to know more about Talents and what they mean to us. I had one in my class this year, and no, I won’t tell you who.” That was true, as far as it went. After all, she was a member of her own class. And she had taught a few Talents in the past. “I met Andros and we hit it off, so we went on a date last night. He’s a mortal, not a Talent, he just works at STORM as a geek. End of story.” She hoped she could come clean after the mission, at least as far as Andros was concerned. She still wasn’t sure about coming out herself, but at least she knew neither Andros nor anyone at STORM would pressure her into it.

  Rina frowned. She got up from her desk and crossed the room to the water cooler. “Why don’t they convert him? Or are the crutches temporary?”

  “No. He has Becker’s. It’s a form of muscular dystrophy. STORM has a waiting list for conversion and he’s on that, but they don’t come up often.”

  Lara grimaced. “They prefer to keep it for themselves.”

  Faye didn’t comment. “Anyhow, we talked about more than STORM, and we liked each other’s company. So I’m seeing him again.”

  “And you’re telling me you didn’t sleep with him?”

  “I’m not telling you anything,” Faye said, as calmly as she could. ”But even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be breaking any rules.” True enough. Her department had nothing to do with his.

  “Leave her alone, girls.” At last, the voice of reason. She gave Rina a smile of thanks. But Rina went on, “We’ll know soon enough. I’m only too glad to see the back of that creepy professor. Much too old for you. Better to be a cougar.”

  Faye gave an embarrassed laugh. “Twenty-six. A couple of years doesn’t make me a cougar.” But a hundred or so might.

  The other two agreed. “You got too tied up in the professor and his cause, girl. He’s on the run now. Who knows where he is?” Rina said.

  She still could hardly believe Nordheim had done what they said, but she’d seen the evidence for herself. Irrefutable evidence.

  “So what did they tell you about Professor Nordheim at STORM?” Rina asked. “Is he a man or a Talent? Did he stab that Talent they flew off to hospital?”

  She shrugged. “As far as I know he’s as human as I am. You don’t think he would have shape-shifted if he could?”

  “So where is he?” Rina wasn’t giving up.

  “On the run. He’s wanted for questioning on a number of counts of abduction and murder. That’s why they wanted him originally. That’s why I had to go in for questioning. They’re taking in everybody from the Fairness Society, in case they know where he is.”

  The collective gasp expressed the way she’d felt. She’d touched this slime, had dinner with him. Nearly fucked him. Before they’d separated today, Andros had warned Faye, “Don’t see him, don’t let him see you in private. If he comes near you, contact me. Fuck, send out a broadcast.”

  She’d kissed him and promised. She didn’t have a death wish.

  Lara paused in the act of booting up her computer. Her gaze left the screen and went to Faye. “He really killed people?”

  “Talents. Yes.”

  “Not really the same thing, is it?”

  Faye swallowed. “What do you mean?”

  Lara shrugged. “Well, Talents, you know? They had a couple hundred years already. And they won’t help the rest of us, will they? They want it all ways. They want what we’ve built up and they don’t want to give anything back.”

  “So how do you know that someone like Isaac Newton wasn’t a Talent?” Faye demanded. Her temper rose and she had to fight to keep control. Jesus, who was feeding these people this shit?

  “Of course he wasn’t. Maybe you need to come to a meeting with us.”

  The club Lara belonged to, of course. The anti-Talents in every way. Every university had its fanatics, and Lara belonged to the “get rid of them all” lobby.

  “Do you think the law will hold them if they really want to take over?” Rina demanded. She made a sound of exasperation. “They do it because they want to. I want to give them some leeway, a chance to show us what they can do. And Faye’s right. Remember what she said the other day? It makes sense to me. Talents have lived among us for centuries and we’re none the worse. We could be better off.” She grinned at Faye. “Do you really think Newton was a Talent?”

  No, actually, he wasn’t. But she couldn’t say that now. “He could have been. Who knows?”

  “Come to a meeting, both of you,�
�� Lara urged. “You’ll see.”

  What could she say, but “Sure”? Not that she ever intended to go.

  Halfway through the morning, Ann sent a bunch of stuff to Andros’ phone. He thumbed through the messages and gave a low whistle. It turned out Nordheim was into all kinds of shit. He recruited vampire wannabes, the kind of people who willingly offered themselves up as blood slaves. They attracted vampires who wanted an easy feed. To some people it was the ultimate fantasy. So vampires had disappeared, along with the shape-shifters. It made it worse that Nordheim was a Talent.

  This university was one of the biggest in the city and it held any number of weirdos. Andros had the unenviable task of investigating them, or as many as he could get through. They’d been arranged for him in order of closeness to Nordheim. The ones in the Fairness Society were already being questioned but there were Nordheim’s students, colleagues, people he socialized with. He could scan most, but he had to take care because somewhere, Ann believed, were his accomplices in the abduction scam.

  First, they had to visit a vampire club, with members that worshipped and offered themselves to the vamps as blood slaves. Lucky vampires.

  They held the club after classes. This being fall, it started getting dark around six and the meeting was scheduled for seven, so the vampires were manifesting their full powers. A shame, he’d hoped to be away and sitting in some cozy restaurant with his girl by then. He texted Faye and let her know where he’d be.

  She met him there. They were holding the meeting in one of the smaller classrooms in the arts building. And it looked just like he expected. Andros had belonged to one of the wannabe clubs an age back. An age in his experience, but a year in reality. So much had happened since then. He had played with his band in a club for vampires and would-be vampires. Some of the bastards had even taken his blood, weak though he was at the time. But now he knew there were bad vampires and good ones, just as there were bad mortals and good ones. Species didn’t guarantee decency. He thought that if vamps were up front about how hard it was to change someone, they’d save themselves a whole lot of hassle. They’d also lose some willing blood donors, but they could live with that. But not his call, so he’d keep clear. One thing he could do without was an angry vampire baying for his blood.

  They’d dimmed the lights in the room, and draped some black cloth here and there. Behind the desk at the front they’d hung a banner that said “Welcome vampires.” And at the front stood someone Andros would bet wasn’t a vampire. He sensed nothing from the guy. The tight black pants and poet’s shirt showed a lack of imagination, but if the guy wanted to pretend, Andros wouldn’t stand in his way.

  All his senses went on alert when Faye came in. Immediately he moved from his station next to the wall to meet her. People cleared the way, gave him sympathetic smiles he wanted to snarl at. He could give less able-bodied people a bad rep that way, so he kept his cool and smiled back. He got to Faye quicker.

  She shot him an alarmed glance but he didn’t stop until he reached her and could lean down and give her a kiss of greeting. His hair fell over them both, his pale blond mingling with her dark chestnut. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to take her home and to bed, take care of her, love her.

  She contacted him. Should we be so open?

  People know about us. It would look suspicious to stay apart. Come on, get out of the entrance. People want to come in.

  She moved away from the doorway, followed him to his spot by the back wall. They stood together, close, and the world grew a little warmer.

  The guy at the front introduced himself as Sergiu Tanase. Like fuck he is, Andros commented to Faye and heard her amusement in his mind.

  Probably Harry Smith or something, she responded.

  The man had overdone it. He wore his hair long and the curls had tangled around his shoulders. His eye makeup was far from subtle, and either he’d used some kind of dye or bitten his lips to get them that red. No self-respecting vampire would appear in public in such a hackneyed getup. Or maybe he would, but only to make his friends laugh. “I am a vampire, although I do not have to take much blood.” He pronounced it “blut”. Whatever he was, he so wasn’t the Romanian he claimed to be, with that faux accent and his fake name. Andros didn’t try to penetrate his mind any deeper than he had. He couldn’t see the point.

  But someone else saw it. Already he recognized the Sorcerer’s clear, passionate mind, so focused and disciplined. He hadn’t seen Serena Duval when he came in and he suspected she’d arrived early and settled somewhere quiet. But she was here now, and close. She touched his mind in greeting, then concentrated on the others in the room.

  He knew by the way her hand tensed in his that Faye had picked up on Serena too. What’s she doing here?

  The same as we are, I guess. Checking out the members here. Little chance that Serena would pick up their private conversation, so deep now that only they could share the place.

  There must be fifty people here. Some dressed in black and red, Goth style, others in casual clothes. But he didn’t pick up any vampires. Unless they’d closed their minds.

  There are at least three vampires here. Serena could go deeper than he could and still remain undetected. She told him vampires were waiting, exploring the minds of the people. If they could pick up prey here, they would, but it could be a trap. It probably was a trap, considering the links Nordheim had with the club. I sense something, something buried deep. I want to get to this man calling himself Tanase, Serena said.

  You think he’s helping Nordheim and his friends? Andros wanted to know.

  Her reply was laconic. I suspect the link is there.

  The “vampire” gave a toothy smile but no fangs showed. Andros had seen people get tooth jobs from their dentists, existing teeth filed and shaped or caps applied. At least this guy hadn’t gone that far.

  “We don’t usually meet here, but this being the start of the semester, some of you might be new to this. We want vampires. We love you guys. Here you can find people who care about you and want to help you. We know vampire numbers are low. We can’t see you disappear.”

  “Don’t you mean ‘us’?” someone yelled.

  Sergiu raised a brow. “If you say so.” His accent thickened. Andros had already noted the way it came and went, even in the space of a few sentences. Tanase tilted his head to one side, smiled at the questioner as if he were an operatic villain. “We will be here. We usually meet once a week at the Skoland Express.” A local bar. “We want to say to any Talents here that not everyone at this university is the enemy of the Talent. We welcome you. We have this room for tonight. Feel free to mingle.”

  Andros didn’t trust the bastard one bit. Any more than he trusted the crazies in the anti-Talent group. But he was naturally that way, and being with STORM had only increased his latent paranoia. Although sometimes you were right and they were really after you.

  He gripped Faye’s hand, feeling oddly safe. Content to stay here with her as long as she wanted. At least he recognized this brand of nuttiness. He spoke up, hoping his words would stir the crowd and make it easier for Serena to read them. “I came from San Francisco,” he said. “We had the same kind of setup. Hopefully you can help me one day, if I help you.”

  Andros met Sergiu’s burning gaze. “I’m sure I can.” The silky smile said it all. “In fact I know I can. Stick with me, kid. I’ll look after you, if you look after me.” And then he felt it, the glamour vampires exuded to get what they wanted, to lull their victims into a state of dreamy acceptance. So he was a real vampire, after all. He’d just buried his Talent deep and built strong defenses. Some vampires refused to use their compulsion. He pretended to be fascinated and moved closer, Faye following him.

  This was a bad vamp. Andros had just wanted to be sure. Only a purely selfish, ignorant vampire would take the blood of someone as obviously disabled as he was. But the man read him, his powerful mind sweeping across Andros’ mind once before leaving. Andros did his best to
maintain the defensive, proud attitude that had kept him going for so long, but he couldn’t replicate the damaged part of his mind. MD eventually got everywhere. And always there was the knowledge that he wouldn’t get better. So he added a shot of desperation to the mix. That came so easily, even now.

  “I’m interested too.” Serena stepped forward, smiling. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, Andros wouldn’t have believed that the Sorcerer could inject so much warmth, so much feeling into her eyes, and move so seductively. She must have studied a long time to get that effect.

  Deep in his mind, he heard her rebuttal. Just a certain cartoon rabbit. She taught me everything I needed to know.

  He detected an echo of laughter.

  The vampire turned his attention to her, having hooked Andros, or so he probably believed. He grinned. “Sure. You’d make a tasty addition to the clan.” He gave her a slow, sexy sweep with his gaze and grinned. “Except you’d have to wait your turn. You’re one in a long line of girls, sweetness. And I only have a certain capacity. Come to one of our private parties. I’ll send you an invite.”

  “Maybe later.” Serena maintained the sultry, seductive pose, gazing at the vampire, seemingly in worship. Anything to get deeper into his mind. But her chest moved in a small sigh. And Andros felt the snap of her irritation in his mind. She couldn’t get in as deep as she wanted to. Either that, or the vampire was as he seemed—cheesy and sleazy.

  She turned and slinked out the door, the people remaining clearing a path for her. Andros shot a glance at Faye, then at Sergiu. “Wow.”

  The vampire watched Serena leave, then gave an exaggerated shrug before turning back to them. “She’ll be back. She just wants to make her point and get me running after her. I can wait. But she looked tasty. I’ll look forward to marking that pretty white throat.”

  Any minute now and he’ll run his tongue over his teeth, Faye said laconically.