Night's Kiss (The Ancients)

by Mary Hughes

  In the vampire world, power meant blood. Draining an ancient of his blood was the ultimate rape of power, an atrocity known as Soul Stealing.

  “Go on.” Logan’s tone and face were carefully controlled.

  “He said, ‘This failsafe triggers every twenty-four hours. If you’re seeing this, I may be caught or worse. Alert my people.’”

  “He knew,” Luke said.

  Logan nodded grimly. “He always does.”

  Ryker suppressed a snort. Elias’s people tended to think him omniscient. If he was so all-knowing, he should have had the courtesy to tell me where he is now. It would have saved Ryker a lot of headache.

  Luke said, “Why didn’t this Inky-doo come to us directly?”

  “Well, sir…” Ryker leaned close and whispered, “He doesn’t think you like him.” He straightened with a nod.

  “Inky-doo…?” Logan jerked back, his eyes glittering to a dangerous red-gold. “Enkidu?”

  “Enkidu?” Distaste flashed across Luke’s face.

  Exactly why he’d come here as Keydew. They wouldn’t share cute kitty posts with him as himself, much less information.

  “Yes sir, that’s it.” He beamed at the pair.

  Logan ripped out a frustrated growl. “I find it hard to believe that bastard is Elias’s friend, much less his friend of last resort.”

  Ryker raised eyebrows. “You’ve met all of Mr. Elias’s friends, sir?”

  That snapped Steel’s mouth shut. Elias had almost as many secrets as Ryker did, even from his own Alliance.

  Then determination hardened Steel’s eyes. Elias’s lieutenants would now stop at nothing to find their leader.

  They weren’t ten thousand years old, though, with experience and information networks to match. No, the final responsibility for finding Elias rested on his own shoulders. Which meant discovering his friend’s last location.

  “Where do you suppose Mr. Elias was before he disappeared?” he mused.

  Luke started, “He was part of the negotia—”

  “Why do you care?” Logan’s gaze narrowed on Ryker, again burning toward red.

  Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Ryker suppressed a snarl of annoyance. It was obvious Logan didn’t trust easily, not even innocent Officer Keydew. The older Steel boy probably wouldn’t trust a teddy bear.

  Fine, if straight didn’t work, he had other methods.

  “Well, sir, I’m foot patrol now, but I’d like to get into detective work. If I can help with this missing person’s case—”

  “Thanks for the information.” Logan stood. “We’ll handle it from here.”

  “Sir, wait. If the worst has happened and Mr. Elias has been kidnapped, time matters desperately. You’ll want the police involved. We have resources.” When Logan hesitated, Ryker hammered in a coffin nail. “Unless there’s something hinky going on.”

  He kept his smile open but let mistrust creep into his gaze. He’d given them both carrot and stick. Notify the police, and they’d get additional help locating their boss. Don’t, and they’d appear suspicious.

  Even law-abiding vampires didn’t want the authorities snooping.

  Finally, Logan nodded. “We’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the information.”

  As the Alliance trio left the cafe, Ryker sipped his coffee, chafing inside. Carrot and stick worked, though, like a dangled fishing line, it took time—time that he didn’t have.

  He didn’t think Elias had been kidnapped. His brother was too resourceful and resilient.

  Yet something was wrong, he knew it in his bones. For just a moment, he tried imagining a world without Elias.

  A great yawing chasm of loneliness opened inside him, hollowing him out completely. He’d already lost his family when he was young, an aching emptiness he’d never filled. He couldn’t lose Elias, too.

  “Skheid, no.” He shook himself. I don’t need Elias. I don’t need anyone. The real reason to rescue Elias was to lord it over him for a decade or two. What was friendship, if you didn’t keep score? Pretty dull, that was what.

  Maybe the twins would tell the police. Or maybe there was another, faster way. Follow them.

  He rose and made his way with Keydew’s tripping gait out the door. The instant he was outside, he ducked into the dark walkway between buildings.

  Misting, he let go of all things Keydew. Mist was a versatile thing, a way to travel like a jet stream for a short time, but also a way to drop unwanted items rapidly from his person. In fact, when a vampire first learned to mist, he automatically dropped everything and snapped whole naked. It took concentration and training to keep hold of the items in contact with him, like clothes and weapons.

  In this case, he let Keydew’s outer layer—uniform, belt, and shoes—drop through his misted body. He reformed as himself, clad in the thin sweater, pants, and minimalist shoes he’d kept tucked under the uniform. He took a moment to shift the cell phone he used as both Ryker and Keydew from his blue pants pocket to his black before folding his uniform into his waiting backpack. The retrieved first-aid supplies went in next. Shouldering the pack, he slipped out from the walkway.

  The scent of the esteemed Steel brothers led him south. Silently, he glided to Adams and turned east, heading for Luke’s household on East Fourteenth and Adams. He walked swiftly, estimating he’d catch up to them somewhere around Third Street.

  But before he did, he ran into someone else.

  …

  After Alexis and Luke left me at the corner of Fifth and Adams, I continued west, heading for my new digs, swinging along in my comfortable leathers, more like myself.

  Well, hey. The night’s still young. Though I’d met the vampire king in Dallas five years ago, he was more often in Europe or Asia or some other corner of the world out of my pocketbook range. But not last night. I got that intel from my dark web friends.

  I owed my life to my vampire chat group. They had info no other souls on Earth did. Frankly, it was eerie sometimes. Not just the details—beyond NSA level and into Alexa, Siri, and Google intimacy—but the weirdness. Anyone stumbling across our convos would be convinced we were living a particularly bizarre, bloodthirsty speculative fiction. Which was one reason we were on the dark web. Nobody wanted to scare the normals.

  Anyway, the king wasn’t usually around, but a chat friend said there’d been some sort of important sucker meeting in Meiers Corners last night. A meeting that the king had attended.

  Why not go hunting?

  It wasn’t simply whim. My dark web friends also said Chicago had a new master vampire, and he was cleaning house. With rogues fleeing the Windy City, I was a little worried about Meiers Corners getting overrun.

  If I could help make the town safer tonight, I would.

  I spun in my tracks, scanning for signs of a vampire’s passing—pools of blood, stunned humans, or even broken garden gnomes or blowup beer steins slashed in rage.

  Sure, vamps might pass as human for a short time. The monster always won out in the end. Always.

  Another reason Ryker had to be human, despite the size. Something would’ve given the monster away, a flash of red eyes or elongated fang or beastly snarl or the claws they grew before they attacked. Ryker was only urbane and annoyingly sure of himself.

  Damn. Why was I thinking about that man again?

  Though I hunted for maybe twenty minutes, my mind kept wandering back to Ryker. Big, bronzed, and beautiful, sweetly bandaging my arm…then walking away.

  That hurt. What was wrong with me that he didn’t want to hunt with me?

  I stopped abruptly. What was wrong with me? What was wrong with him? We were both hunting the king. He didn’t want a partner? Yeah, well, I didn’t want a partner, either. I simply wanted information, and I had information to share in return. Purely transactional.

  Good. All I had to do was f
ind him, ask to see his, and show him mine.

  Information, that was. Embarrassment tingled up my neck.

  Bottom line, we could help each other, if the handsome pain in the ass would cooperate. Discomfort faded.

  If he got difficult, I’d make him cooperate.

  Determined now, I returned to Third and Adams, where I’d first met him, and waited. It didn’t take long.

  …

  Ryker came to a surprised stop as Kat stepped in front of him with such force, she almost chest-butted him. Well, abs-butted. She’d have to be a foot or so taller for their chests to meet.

  Meeting chests, considering her sleek body in her form-fitting leathers, might be very pleasant.

  Desire mushroomed, hard and immediate, surprising him.

  She drilled him in the eye. “I’m hunting the vampire king. You’re hunting the vampire king. Why aren’t we sharing information?”

  All pleasant thoughts of chests disappeared. Her brows were a furious V, her fists denting her hips. He’d been in enough battles to recognize something hazardous behind her determination. Here be dragons to gobble the unwary.

  He tried to put her off. “Before I answer, tell me—why are you hunting the king?”

  “Why do you think? Vampire hunter, vampire.”

  “Yes, but why the king?” Who in their right mind would kill Elias, one of the truly good guys of the world?

  If she’d said she wanted to kill a vampire prince, that might make more sense. She’d met Ryker as a vampire in Dallas, and though he was no king and never would be, he counted himself as one of the more potent lords of the night.

  “I could go around picking off suckers until I’m eighty. But if I kill their king, like cutting off their head, I’ll have done some real good in the world. That’s why I’m hunting him. Now you answer me.”

  He admired her tenacity even as he cursed it. “I’m searching for the king, not hunting.”

  “Same diff.”

  “No. Hunting is for enemies and prey. I’m searching for my friend.”

  She stepped back as if physically pushed. “Say what?”

  “The vampire king is my friend. We’re like brothers.”

  “You’re a bloodsucker’s minion?” She spat the term.

  “No, I’m his friend,” he snarled back.

  Her gaze narrowed, sharp enough to flay him. Studying him intently, her expression softened into a puzzled frown. “You don’t act like you’re in thrall,” she finally admitted.

  “I’m not.” He studied her in turn, not just enjoying the pleasantness of her features this time but trying to see the woman beneath them. What drove her… He took a sharp breath. “The king hurt you?”

  She blinked, as if his figuring that out startled her. “No. Not him.” She glanced away. “Vampires killed my parents. Hurt my sister.”

  “Ah. You want vengeance.”

  Her gaze snapped back to him. “Doesn’t matter. You’re looking for him, I’m looking for him. Let’s pool our resources.”

  That again. His back went up. “I work alone.” He had for centuries.

  “How’s that going for you?” she challenged. “Found him yet?”

  His resentment deflated and his admiration for her grew. Only Elias could puncture his indignation that fast, that surgically. “Not yet,” he slowly admitted. “I only have part of the picture.”

  “You have part, I have part. We pool our information, maybe we get the whole picture.” She spread her hands in a gesture of appeal, her eyes glimmering.

  When she looked at him like that, he found it hard to resist. He folded his arms and managed, “I doubt yours is better than mine.”

  “Let me give you a taste, then.” Her expression sharpened. “Chicago has a new master.”

  “I’m aware.” He scoffed, though he was impressed. That was insider knowledge.

  “Then try this. A big summit of vamps was held here last night. Some sort of turf war was narrowly averted.”

  Dropping his arms, he blinked at her. His spies were the best in the world, yet they hadn’t reported any of that to him.

  Damn it, if she was right, she had better sources than should be possible. “Where did you hear this? Where did these vampires meet?”

  “That’s not how it works.” There was a challenge in her smile. “Do we have a deal?”

  Here be dragons, all right. This deal was not only to share information. The gleam in her eye and the challenge in her stance threatened—or promised—more. Much, much more.

  What started as a simple pooling of resources might become a partnering.

  His pulse quickened at the idea.

  He pushed any excitement away. I don’t want a partner. Especially a brash, strong female. There was a recipe for disaster, no matter how beautiful her smile, how delightful her quirks, how enticing her tight huntress’s body… A flash of desire seared him. He gritted his teeth against it, reminding himself that they’d only constantly butt heads.

  And how exciting butting anything with her would be…

  He dragged a frustrated hand through his hair. This was ridiculous. He was overreacting. A partner? The very idea was impossible. She’d have to be immune to his compulsion, like a mate.

  He frowned. Why had he thought that?

  No one is immune to an ancient.

  He laughed in relief. Why was he worried about any attraction? It could never threaten his independence. As an ancient, he could hypnotize anyone, even a snippy little vampire hunter.

  “What’s so funny?”

  He laughed louder. “I’ll do it. I’ll join you.”

  Chapter Four

  “I’ll join you.”

  His sudden agreement startled me, and the flare of amusement in his black eyes was not reassuring.

  “Good! Good.” I tried to keep the surprise out of my voice, though my plate-wide eyes probably gave me away. “Our next step—”

  “Stand back!” His command was underscored by a shing of metal as he shoved me to one side. Gliding in front of me, he stood in easy ready stance—with a talwar in his hand.

  What the…? A talwar, or my talwar? I reached for my swords, drew Joyce…and flailed behind my head for Shredder. Gone.

  “What the actual fuc—”

  “Back off,” he ordered again, though not at me.

  I leaned out to see five vampires in mottled facial armor. Adrenaline goosed me. They stalked hand-to-shoulder toward us like a fangy SWAT team. They even wore matching black fatigues with blue chest patches. All that was missing was the tactical shields.

  I’d fought more than one vampire before, though nothing much over three by myself. Me against five? I calculated my odds of coming out of this alive and swallowed a rock of anxiety.

  Oh, sure, Ryker held Shredder with an easy confidence. And he’d been handy enough batting away that rogue’s head. I had no idea if he could actually fight, though.

  In fact, he wasn’t the vampire hunter, I was. It was my job to protect him.

  Firming my grip on Joyce, I strode around Ryker and faced the vampires. “If you’re looking for trouble, you’ve found it.”

  “That’s your best line?” Ryker murmured.

  “Got a better one?” I threw back.

  “This.” He charged around me and hit the two monsters in front with a vigorous slash of the talwar across both their throats.

  Idiot. Ryker was fast, but vamps were inhuman. Both barely flinched.

  I leaped forward to rescue him.

  Suckers are fast. Necks already healing, they grabbed my ally. By the time I reached him, four vamps held a struggling Ryker for the fifth to assault his neck.

  “Are you insane?” I whirled Joyce into the two sets of wrists holding Ryker’s left arm. He dislodged the other two, one with a stunner of a left-handed punch,
the other with a knee to nuts.

  “Insane? Are you?” A tiny smile sparkled in his eyes. He was enjoying this, the ass. “Why didn’t you run for help?”

  “Who’s the vampire hunter here?” I snapped. Bad enough he’d ignored my help; did he have to be so charming doing it? “Follow my lead.”

  A vampire lunged for me, a flash of gold bar showing on his blue patch. I stabbed at him with Joyce, slapping a hand to my vest to draw my dagger Angel—hitting the forgotten test tube of Alexis’s vampire dissolving stuff instead. I lost track of the fight for half a second.

  Ryker slashed at the vamp the same moment I’d stabbed. We hit blades with a force that made my teeth jar together.

  “Don’t get in my way!” We yelled it at each other.

  The gold-bar monster grabbed my throat. I froze, breath rasping in my trachea. His hand clamped my neck armor, so I wasn’t immediately dead, but once he peeled it away, my tasty carotid was his for the taking.

  Last minute, Ryker slashed the vamp’s forearm, severing everything the monster needed to hold me. Clawed fingers fell from my neck. Ryker was already attacking another monster with precise, sweeping cuts of my talwar.

  Graceful, deadly. His skill a thing of beauty. My breath stopped the barest instant.

  “You may know vampires,” he said between slashes. “I know the king. If we work together…”

  Together. I got an unwanted burst of pleasure at that.

  “I lead,” he finished.

  “You?” Pleasure exploded into annoyance. I slapped Joyce into her sheath, freeing up my hands for the test tube. I popped out the cork. “How much vampire tracking have you done?”

  Cut arm dangling, Mr. Gold-Bar gave up subtle and lunged at me fangs first. Feinting back, I tossed a couple drops of serum into his terrifying maw. They splashed in.

  Gold-bar swallowed in surprise. Ryker raised a questioning brow an instant before he got distracted by a beefy vampire’s attack. I capped the tube, hoping the stuff did its thing even if the vampire wasn’t “mostly dead.”

  The gold-bar sucker swallowed again—and clapped his good arm over his midsection. Alexis’s serum was evidently going to give him a good case of indigestion.