I have no damned clue who killed the eldest Astor. And if I did, they would no longer be walking around in this world. But I need Rainey to stick around. I have questions of my own, and if I’m going to get to the bottom of the rumors I’ve heard about the Astors, I need her on my side.
“I have to go into work,” she says tightly. “But you can come to my apartment tonight. Eight. Don’t be late.” With that, she turns on her heel and stalks toward her motorcycle. I wait in my car, not wanting to leave her alone in the darkness of the garage.
There’s no telling if more bounty hunters are coming, and if they are, I sure as hell don’t want her caught alone. As soon as she pulls out of the garage, I follow out onto the street before making a right and heading the other direction.
I’ve never considered myself a hero. The exact opposite, actually. I’m the man—the creature lurking in shadows—parents warned their children about. I’ve taken more lives than I care to count, mainly because if I do, I doubt I’ll recover from the resounding spiral it would inevitably send me down.
All that considered, I’ve done what I can to recover. I’ve helped hunters, gone against my base nature, and refused human blood fresh from a warm vein. While I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to redeem myself enough, I’m sure as hell going to spend the rest of my life trying.
20
Rainey
Staring down at the alley where I came close to losing my life does nothing but further my anger. A vampire. I was rescued by a fucking vampire.
And not just any bloodsucker either. One who can somehow make his heart sound like it beats like a human. I didn’t even know any supernaturals possessed that particular ability. Yet, here I am, waiting for him to arrive.
Maybe it’s my death wish acting up again.
Maybe I’m just tired of living a life where I’m expected to fight two different wars. One against human evil and the other—well, we’ve already covered that particular aspect of my life. Either way, my life won’t end in a hospital bed surrounded by loved ones.
No, more than likely I’m destined to go out like my sister.
Like my parents.
Bloody, broken, abandoned in a dark alley.
Or maybe I’ll burn to ash in a death mirroring my grandmother’s.
Either way, one thing is certain. My end will be violent. It will be bloody. And I very much doubt it will be quick.
I shake my head, trying to clear it. Ramirez and I hit dead ends on both our current cases—no surprise there. We’ve interviewed the bartenders again—Jack not included—the bouncers, the waitresses, and the owner. None of them recall seeing the woman claimed to have been seen fighting in the alley—me.
The headless Gale vamps are just as much of a mystery, though we did ID the one burnt to a crisp near the door. Sadly enough, he had a family looking for him. His mother has now lost her son, and I can’t even tell her the truth as to why.
As far as Darrell Smith. It’s just as much of a mystery as Elijah’s disturbing-ass ability. No one knew him. He has no family, and the SUV didn’t show up on any security cameras in the area.
Fucking roadblocks everywhere I turn. Granted, I’m grateful for them in the first and second cases.
My phone buzzes, so I pull it out of my pocket and check the readout. Fantastic.
“Hey, Jack.”
“How ya feeling?” he asks.
“Fine.”
“I’m glad you weren’t lying dead in some alley.”
What a coincidental choice of words. “Nope, alive and well.” For now. “Hey, have you ever heard of a vampire possessing magic?”
“Magic? Like a witch?”
“Yeah. A vampire with abilities that go beyond the typical scope of their powers.”
He’s quiet a moment. “No, can’t say that I have. I know that a vamp is like any supernatural in that the longer they’re alive, the more powerful they are. But I’ve never heard of one possessing witch magic.”
“I don’t know if it’s exactly witch magic,” I murmur.
“Huh?”
“Nothing. I heard a rumor there are vampires with the ability to slow their heart rate so it sounds human to us.”
“What? Are you fucking serious?”
“Like I said, it’s a rumor,” I lie. The last damn thing I want is Jack killing Elijah before I’ve had the chance to get my answers. After I do—maybe I’ll tell Jack so he can do whatever the hell he wants with him.
“Shit, I hope it’s one that’s not true. Those fuckers are already hard to hunt when they get past a certain age. If they could hide in plain sight too? We’d never know what they were until it was too late.”
Don’t I know that? “I’ll let you know if I hear anything else about it.”
“Sounds good. I wanted to let you know I checked out that nest.”
“Nest?” It takes me a fraction of a second to realize what he’s talking about. After the alley and what happened earlier today, the tunnels feel like a lifetime ago. “What the hell were you thinking? You were supposed to wait for me.”
“I didn’t go in to fight. Just to check it out, get an idea for what we’d be up against.”
“And?”
“It’s empty.”
“Empty?”
“They bailed. Probably after you found it.”
“Shit. So we don’t know where they are?”
“Not a damned clue. The place was scrubbed, Rainey. Top to bottom, not a single trace of the vampires. Or the humans you mentioned. Honestly, it looked professionally done.”
Elijah’s mysterious Cleaners, no doubt. “Dammit. I’ll see what I can find out. Research,” I add quickly. “I have some extra resources I can look into, especially now that I can actually tell my partner where the humans were being held.”
“Glad to help. Any updates on our meet-cute? Should I find a place to hold up for a while?”
“Nah, we can’t find the blonde woman spotted, and so far, we have no other leads.”
“Good to know I’m not suspect number one.”
“You’re not even on the list,” I tell him. A heavy knock pulls my attention to the door. “Gotta go.”
“Talk tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” Ending the call, I shove my phone into my pocket and glance over just to be sure my blade is out on the counter. In plain sight. I don’t want this asshole thinking, for even a second, he’s going to get the jump on me.
Then, I pull open the door. Elijah stands on the other side, a black duffel tossed over his shoulder. He’s dressed more casual tonight, wearing dark jeans and a Nirvana T-shirt, the yellow smiley face with x’s for eyes giving him an even more human appearance. Both inked, muscled arms are on full display, and despite my hatred, my blood warms, my heart rate increasing at the sheer sight of him and the memory of his fingertips grazing my skin.
Fantastic.
“Rainey,” he says cautiously. I hate the way my body reacts to him. The way his accented baritone makes me want to rub against him like a cat in heat.
“Come in.” I step to the side, and Elijah moves past me. As soon as he’s clear of the door, I shut it and turn as he sets his bag down on the floor beside my bar.
“Nice blade.”
“Thanks.” I move around my counter so we’re separated by the island, my blade between us.
He eyes me, one brow raised, and I know he doesn’t miss my pointed position. “I thought we’d moved past this.”
“There’s no moving past this. We’re enemies.”
“Your sister and I weren’t.”
His words are a dagger to my gut. “And how convenient is it that she’s not here to corroborate your allegations.”
“Your cop is coming out.”
“My cop is always out. And as far as this?” I gesture between us. “You’re alive because you’re of use to me. The moment that changes, I’ll take your head off and not think twice about it.”
He crosses both arms, the muscles of his biceps bulging f
rom the sleeves of the T-shirt. Fucking vampire.
“Good to know where we stand, I suppose. Though, I imagine you’ll change your mind soon enough.”
“Like hell.”
The way he moves in my space as though he’s more comfortable here than I am, it makes me uneasy. Granted, this isn’t the first time he’s been here, and I imagine he had a damn good time going through my shit when I’d been unconscious. Still, he makes me agitated because as much as I wish I could say my anger is all because of what he is—I’m starting to think it might be something more—primal. A hunger only he can sate.
“You have questions for me?” he asks, sitting down on my couch. The bastard relaxes back, one arm on the side, the other lounged along the back. When he crosses his booted feet at the ankles, I’m pretty sure I’m going to spew molten rage all over him.
“You’re awfully comfortable in the home of a hunter,” I say dryly.
“You aren’t a fraction of the hunter you could be, so I think I’ll take my chances.”
The insult rolls right off me even as my fingers itch to grip the hilt of my blade. “Why have you been following me?”
“I told you I promised your sister.”
“Yeah, I got that part. But why now? She’s been dead for two years. Where have you been until now?”
Elijah’s jaw tightens at my question. “I was traveling.”
“Where?”
“Have you heard of a cure?” he asks, and it’s my turn to cross my arms.
“For?”
“Supernaturals. A way for us to shed our immortality, to become human.”
It takes everything I have to keep from gaping at him. A cure? Surely, I would have heard something about that even as out of touch as I am. “No. And I very much doubt something like that exists.”
“Hmm.”
“What the hell does a cure have to do with anything?”
“It’s what I’ve been looking for.”
“Why?”
He arches a dark eyebrow. “I thought that was apparent.”
“If you don’t stop with the half-ass answers, I’m going to fucking decapitate you.” My words hold little threat, and he knows it. I haven’t gotten everything out of him just yet, and don’t think I don’t realize he’s evading on purpose.
“It’s why I wasn’t around when Delaney was killed, and it’s why I didn’t come around when I’d heard. Well, one of the reasons.”
“And the others?”
His ice-blue gaze levels on mine. “I felt responsible for her death and guilty as hell that I wasn’t here to find and kill the ones who did it.”
I swallow hard. “You felt responsible because you weren’t here to save her? Or because you sold her out?”
Elijah’s on his feet and across the room in less than a second. I grip my blade and shove it up between us as he cages me against the counter. Upper lip drawn up in a snarl, he glares down at me with all the rage I feel inside.
Good. Now we’re both on the same page.
“Listen carefully, Hunter, because I won’t say this again. I. Did. Not. Have. Anything. To. Do. With. Delaney’s. Death. She was my friend, a damned good hunter, and someone I was honored to have known.”
“Then why did you leave her?”
“I was making her even more of a target than she already was.”
We stare at each other, chests rising and falling rapidly and in sync. His heart is racing at the rate of a vampire, which is sending my hunter instincts into complete overdrive. A muscle ticks in his jaw, and I watch his gaze travel down my face and fall to my neck.
“Get back, or I’ll drive this silver into your throat.”
Elijah shoves off the counter but doesn’t go far. Instead of returning to the couch, he leans back against the counter opposite of me.
“So, you said something about a cure?”
“Yes. I’ve been seeking it for the last three centuries.”
“Because you want to be human.”
“Because I’m tired of being a vampire.”
“I don’t get it. Were you born or turned?”
“Born.”
“Then why do you want to be a human?”
He’s quiet for a moment, and I get the impression he’s choosing his next words very carefully. It makes me wonder just what’s going through his mind. I mean, a vampire who wishes to be human? Especially one who was born and not turned? That’s not something you run into every day.
It’s weird even by my standards.
“I’ve been alive a long time. And frankly, I’m tired.”
I open my mouth to reply, a sarcastic quip about how I’m happy to end his life for him right now but decide against it. The haunted look in his eyes, the defeat in the slump of his shoulders.
There’s more to him than I’m seeing on the surface, and a part of me—a small sadistic part to be sure—is intrigued by it. Remember that death wish I was talking about? Pretty sure they’re one and the same. Because that would be the only semi-logical explanation for me not killing him already.
“I’m guessing you didn’t find it?”
He shakes his head.
“Why are you back here?”
“I promised Delaney I would keep you safe,” He repeats words I’ve heard before, and I’m having a hell of a time believing. My sister would have never asked a vampire of all creatures to watch over me. Then, he tilts his head to the side as though he’s studying me. “Tell me, what happened to you back at my apartment?”
“Excuse me?”
“When you discovered what I am. Your pupils dilated, and you were…different.”
“I black out when people piss me off. It ends with me removing their heads.”
“And that doesn’t concern you?”
“No,” I lie. “But it should probably concern you.” I glare at him for a moment longer. “So now what, you’re here to assist me in my hunting duties while searching for a cure that more than likely doesn’t exist?”
“More or less.” He sighs. “You should know something, though.”
“What’s that?”
“There’s a lofty bounty on your head.”
“I put two and two together after my three near-death encounters within the last three days. Nearly dying that many times back to back is new—even for me.”
21
Elijah
“What do you mean three near-death encounters?” I demand, straightening.
“The night at the club would be number one. I’m guessing you saw that one seeing as how you claim to have wiped out the Gale clan afterward.”
“And two? Three?”
“Two would be the black SUV that showed up and tried to put some new holes in me. Three was the alley.”
“Who was in the SUV?”
“Not sure. We didn’t exactly do introductions. They pulled up, nearly killed my partner and me, and sped off before I could get any info from them or the license plate.”
“Where was this?”
“A broke-down trailer on the outskirts of No Man’s Land.”
“Where’s that?”
“Southside, just outside city limits. It’s what we call the area.”
I nod, knowing exactly where she’s talking about. That place is trolled heavily by two clans of vamps. Both seek out the druggies, use them as blood bags, which then doubles as a quick way to get high.
Drug-riddled blood equals one hell of a rush. The Gale leader was high as fuck when I killed him, and he resided in the same general area.
“You weren’t hurt?” I ask, fighting the urge to step toward her.
“No. They missed.”
I nod and look away, my eyes resting on an image hanging on her fridge. Reaching forward, my fingers grip the glossy surface of the photograph. Delaney and Rainey stand beside each other, both smiling with a drink in their hands.
They look so normal—so typical here, and it pains me that Delaney will never smile again. Her green eyes stare back at me, her blonde
hair loose around her face. It’s a sucker punch to my heart that I won’t get to see my friend again.
I hadn’t even been around to say goodbye.
“She was found facedown in an alley,” Rainey says. Her voice is tight as if the words forced themselves out. I glance up at her. She’s staring at the image in my hands, her eyes glossy. “I was the detective called to the scene.”
Fuck. So not only did she lose her sister, but she had to see her. Dead in an alley. “I’m so sorry, Rainey. I hope you know how much I mean those words. Delaney was special. She was a good person and deserved a hell of a lot more than that.”
My thoughts drift back to the last time I talked to her. The night she’d died.
“Delaney, good to hear from you.” Phone pressed to my ear, I pull another skull from the shelving inside the catacombs beneath Prague.
“You’ve been a wonderful friend to me, and I’m glad I didn’t remove your head when we first met.”
I smile. “I’m pretty glad you didn’t too.”
Delaney sighs. “I don’t have long, but I wanted to say goodbye.”
I stop, getting to my feet, all joy at hearing from her dissipating like smoke in the wind. “What do you mean?”
“It’s okay, I already knew it was coming. But I need you to promise me—” she trails off, voice breaking. “I need you to promise to watch over Rainey. She doesn’t even know the truth—about what she’s capable of.”
“Where are you?” I head for the exit, mission abandoned so I can get back to my friend. She matters more than some rumored cure.
“It doesn’t matter. You can’t get here in time. Just know that I’m prepared. Everything’s ready to go. Keep Rainey safe. Tell her the truth.”
“Delaney—” I trail off at the beeping in my ear signifying the line going dead. “Son of a bitch!”
I didn’t get back to her in time.
I’ve felt grief exactly four times in my long life. Once when my father was murdered, then again when my mother met the same fate. The worst, though, had been when my human fiancée was killed hours before we were to be married.
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