Night's Kiss (The Ancients)

by Mary Hughes

  “I couldn’t see, but the sounds…” A man’s guttural cry. A woman’s scream. “My father… He fell to the floor. His open, shocked eyes, the horrible gash in his neck… I wasn’t old enough to have seen death before, but… H-he was gone. I didn’t see my mother’s face…until later. God.” My eyes hurt, and my nose throbbed.

  “Take your time.” Ryker’s voice was soothing, gentle. A gauze pad appeared in my hand.

  I wiped my face. The gauze came back soaked.

  “A huge hand…grabbed my father by the neck. I peeked out—I’ll never forget my parents’ killer.” I swallowed past a thick throat. “His face was a horrid ruddy skull. A boar’s tusks. Eyes the burning fires of hell.” Later I’d understood that was the killer’s facial armor.

  The blood-red, skull-like faceplate of a fiend.

  “I ducked back under the table, nauseous and shivering. Then Rey…” I heaved a broken, watery breath. My chest ached. “Her shoes hit the carpet, and she stumbled. They’d dragged her off her chair. I would’ve come out then, to try to fight or at least do something, but…but she bent so I could see her. Her eyes found mine, and she shook her head. She mouthed ‘hide.’ So I stayed hidden while they dragged her off and…hurt her.”

  And then I did cry, tears bursting from my eyes and throat and chest, tears I’d held back for years. Weeping for my dead parents, their white faces crying out for revenge; for my poor sister, broken so young; and most of all for the little girl I’d been, who’d only been able to quiver in fear on the floor.

  A low voice broke through, a voice which had been murmuring soothing nonsense for a while. “It’s all right. You’re safe now. It’s okay to let it out.” Ryker stroked my hair while I squeezed his other hand bloodless.

  I pulled away slightly, my gaze rising to his. I was stunned to see soft, warm compassion in his eyes.

  I nearly choked on a fresh burst of tears. Dashing my arm over my eyes, I managed to squeegee my face dry.

  “When I finally came out, my parents were dead. The vampires had ransacked the house and taken their research, their life’s work. Rey was alive—barely. Vampires killed my parents and hurt my sister while I shivered under the furniture hearing their screams and groans. Scared like no child should have to be.”

  “I’m sorry, Kat,” he said gently.

  His voice soothed me. And strangely, after reliving the events in the safety of his presence, they’d lost a lot of their sting. I wasn’t at peace, but I wasn’t quite as broken as before, either. I let myself take comfort from him a moment longer before pulling away. “That’s why I hate vampires. And that’s why I’ll never stop in my quest for revenge.

  “Because I’ll never—never—be that powerless again.”

  …

  Ryker understood now why Kat had trained hard to kill his kind. Why she needed to believe they were all alike. He hurt for the child she’d been. Wanted nothing more than to hug her to him until her pain and guilt went away.

  But he let her pull from his arms. Once her emotional balance returned, she wouldn’t thank him for it, not wanting to show any weakness. Before it got awkward, he nodded briskly.

  “Let’s go get that camera.” He strode past her.

  “Wait.” She grabbed his wrist, halting him. He turned to see her staring at where her fingers barely wrapped around his wrist. She swallowed hard and dropped her hand. “You can’t crack the camera and film falls out. It’ll be electronic.”

  “Ah.” He managed a small smile. “Then it’s back to charming church ladies.”

  “Well, I’m no PI, but…” She took out her phone, tapped and swept and tapped some more. “Researching vampires has made me a Google goddess.” She showed him a web page of hall rental facts—including “security by” with a 24-hour Chicago phone number. “Now you only have to charm one person.”

  He pulled in an appreciative breath. “Brilliant, Kat. Thank you.”

  Her cheeks flushed a sweet pink. Wordlessly, she held out the phone.

  As he pressed call, he took the opportunity to slide under the canopy of a large tree, still thickly leaved. His ancient powers helped him tolerate the daylight, but it still burned him. Standing in the shade, his body cooled.

  The human answering practically tripped over herself spewing all the information she had, trying to be helpful.

  But Ryker grimaced as he put away his phone.

  “What’s wrong?” Kat mirrored his grimace. “She didn’t have the information, or you couldn’t charm her?”

  “Neither.” Sufficiently cool physically but burning with irritation at himself, he began walking west. “The cameras feed into a server in the hall’s security hub.”

  She dashed to catch up to him. “Right. We wait until the ladies are distracted then scoot upstairs again?”

  “We could have—before someone blabbed and got the police involved.” Though there’d been no alternative at the time. “The server plus the entire storage disk array is in the hands of CSU.”

  “You can’t charm the police?”

  He came to an abrupt halt, drawing himself straight. Unintended, but she’d just insulted him. “Of course I can.”

  “But…?”

  “How do you know there’s a but?” he asked sharply. How had she divined that? Vampires could read the minutia of facial expression, body language, and scent to do a fair imitation of mind reading. A human, though? She was disturbingly impressive.

  She only shrugged. “Well, you’re not jumping all over this like it’s good news.”

  He laughed. She was impressive, but he was also acting like an open book. “You have a point. Charming the police is trickier. Likely this will mean calling in some favors. I have a friend on the force, and he should be working now. I’ll take care of this.” He cast his mind ahead, to donning his Keydew disguise and heading for the lab.

  “I’ll come with you.”

  “No!” Good Inanna, how could he change with her there? “No, let me talk to him alone first. If he sees you, he may not be as open to sharing evidence.”

  She frowned suspiciously at him. “Sounds like you’re trying to cut me out.”

  “Of course not.” Well, only to change. And maybe review the footage before her, to make sure there were no unforeseen complications. “Tell you what. Give me thirty minutes to negotiate with my asset. Once I get access to the recording, you can come to the lab and we’ll look at it together.”

  She scrutinized him for a long, silent moment. Gauging if he’d double-cross her. He stood perfectly still and let her, hoping to reassure her. He wouldn’t, because Elias could take care of himself…and because he wouldn’t. Not now that she’d told him her tragic story; not now that she’d opened herself to him.

  But he had to be sure, before he involved her, that whatever had caused his brother’s disappearance wouldn’t threaten her.

  Finally, she said, “Fifteen minutes.”

  He timed it in his head. Don his Keydew disguise, find the lab tech on duty, get him to load the right time frame, encourage the tech to take a long break, and change back into Ryker to greet her. Fifteen minutes at least, and then only if everything went exactly right. He shook his head emphatically. “What if I can’t find him right away? What if he takes extra convincing? Twenty-five.”

  “Twenty. Not a second more.”

  From her mulish expression, it would have to do. “All right. Twenty minutes, then meet me in evidence processing.” He gave her directions. The lab was at the back of the police station, isolated from the general hustle and bustle.

  They walked in silence. Hesitantly, he asked, “On your quest to kill vampires…did you ever try to find the one who murdered your parents?”

  She snarled, “Of course I did. At first, I asked around. You can imagine the bizarre looks that got me. Once I joined my dark net chat, I asked them for help. Nothing. H
e disappeared after that night and hasn’t been seen since. I search almost every night, hoping to find him…” Her voice broke. “My friend Black Widow even has a bot to look for him. But…nothing.” The defiance bled from her and her shoulders rounded. “He destroyed my family and I can’t do anything about it.”

  His heart ached for her. “You can’t find closure.”

  “Oh, I’ll find closure all right.” She snarled it, straightening. “If I have to slay every bloodsucker I come across.”

  He winced.

  Despite the cloud cover, the sun beat down on him. By the time they reached the police station, his internal temperature was becoming hard to control. The whole trip, from leaving the hall to arriving here, had taken less than thirty minutes, but it was still a good thing the day was overcast, and that he’d had time in the tree’s shade. If this had been mid-summer at noon, he’d be blistering by now.

  Outside the police station, she very pointedly took out her phone and set the timer.

  Time was ticking, literally.

  With a deep breath, he went up the stairs and inside.

  Once out of the sun, Ryker allowed himself exactly one second to enjoy his relief before he used Keydew’s proximity fob to go from the lobby into the main building, ducking into a first-floor bathroom stall to don the figure and uniform of Officer Keydew.

  She’d given him a real challenge.

  As Keydew, he raced back toward the lab, heart pumping. Four of his precious twenty minutes were gone. It struck him that he wasn’t chafing at the time limitation, he was excited. If it weren’t for Elias being missing, having this bit of a race with Kat would almost be fun.

  Too bad she killed vampires for a living. A male could do worse for a companion for a few centuries.

  He frowned at his own thoughts. Companion, Kat? For him? Vampire slayer, vampire. With the resolve that drove her, any kind of relationship would only be courting a world of pain.

  He trotted into the lab. Keydew had had no reason to be at a crime scene, but the lab was a relative piece of cake. He’d told the Steel boys the truth—he was studying how to be a detective, and the forensic scientist was teaching him how to process fingerprints and other evidence. All the techs knew Keydew.

  The department now included several people, though only one was on second shift. The single bored tech slumped on his stool, reviewing the Roller-Blayd Hall footage.

  He didn’t even have to compel the man. He’d barely mentioned coffee break in Keydew’s sunny tones when the tech was up and dashing for the break room.

  Ryker smiled at his luck. At this rate, he’d see what he needed well before Kat arrived. He slid onto the stool, still warm from the tech. With the video review software already cued, it was the work of mere moments to find the pertinent camera and the correct time frame—dusk, the night Elias disappeared. From Kat’s smug needling, she thought him a technologically challenged fuddy-duddy. She was right, but he could use the bloody stuff. He only wished it had been invented a thousand years earlier. It would’ve alleviated much boredom. Although he wouldn’t have pulled off half the pranks he had.

  He fast-forwarded through the footage, his vampire abilities letting him do the work of hours in mere moments. As if time-lapsed, the lot darkened and the lights flicked on. Ryker waited for the vehicle to show, but none pulled up.

  The hall’s back door flung open. Automatically he clicked to slow the playback. A dark blob rolled out—a mass which burst apart into five figures, four big and one slightly bigger.

  Ryker frowned. Elias, as an ancient, should be mountainous alongside any other vampire.

  He made a noise of disgust and grabbed the mouse to fast-forward. This wasn’t the footage he needed.

  The larger blob turned toward the camera. The face, battered, bloody, and etched with suffering, was unmistakable.

  It was Elias.

  Ryker froze the frame. Horror filled him at the masses of blood and appalling bruises marring his brother vampire’s once-noble visage. He was appalled by the silver threading the black of Elias’s hair and by his facial grooves, distinct signs of aging, unnerving in an ancient who healed anything.

  The invincible god-king was now reduced and middle-aged. Disturbingly vulnerable.

  Sweet Inanna. The only thing which could possibly sink him this low was being drained of his most precious ancient blood—his heart’s blood.

  Could the attackers have committed such an atrocity? Ryker shivered with a revulsion that was touched with the first brush of fear; if they’d done this, they were more powerful than he’d thought.

  Gut churning, he reached for his detachment. Trying to think, to decipher Elias’s clue. It was harder than it should have been.

  Damn it to Kur. Elias had turned toward the camera deliberately, revealing himself, trusting his brother would be savvy enough to trace his scent to that particular door, trusting he’d figure out the outside camera footage would have captured this moment.

  He’d rather overestimated Ryker’s abilities. He’d probably have missed this video, if not for Kat.

  Can I even find my brother without her?

  Unnerved, angry, he hit play. Onscreen, the four vampires grabbed Elias, hustling him away from the door. They wore black fatigues with some sort of colored insignia on their chests, like a uniform. Familiar…

  Elias was still in control, though. His struggling was more for form than actually trying to escape. It reinforced Ryker’s idea that his brother had allowed himself to get caught. He huffed a relieved breath. Whatever you owe me, it’s tripled. They hustled him toward…nothing. They went offscreen.

  Sick dismay jolted him. Kat had been right that this video existed, pointed in the correct direction, and was revealing. She was wrong in its scope.

  They still didn’t have the car.

  His internal timer went off. He had just enough time to morph back into Ryker before Kat arrived. He stood.

  Only to have his phone chime.

  He took out the phone but paused, staring at the monitor where the revealing playback was still frozen.

  Did he show her this video, or not? While Elias was as hard to kill as any ancient, the vampire in that footage wasn’t the lord of the night Ryker knew and loved. Blood loss, beating, and drugs had weakened him. And now that Kat had that vampire-eating fluid… She might succeed where countless others had failed.

  Kat could destroy Elias. Ryker had no doubt the vivacious vampire hunter would kill his friend without batting an eye.

  An even more frightening thought struck him. Those black-uniformed vampires, to have brought Elias so low, were more dangerous than he could have believed possible. If he led Kat to Elias and those murderous beasts were still with him… His body chilled. He’d walk into the sun before he’d put her in such deadly danger.

  I’d walk into the sun for her…? That startled him. Yet it was true. He was as fiercely protective of her as he was of Elias, a male he’d known practically his whole life.

  His phone chimed a second time. Two text messages. Both were from Kat.

  Time’s up. And…

  Let me in NOW, before I break the door down.

  Chapter Ten

  Damn it. Spinning from the room, Ryker hustled to the front of the building as fast as Keydew’s spindly legs allowed. A knocking rang louder the closer he got to the lobby. Premonition ate at his nape. Reaching the locked lobby door, he paused to check the monitor.

  Kat stood on the other side of the door, rapping with taut knuckles. One glance at her rigid spine told him that if he refused her entrance, or even took ten seconds to change back to Ryker, he was going to have a helluva fight on his hands.

  With her, he might almost enjoy it.

  But now was not the time. He buzzed her in. She pushed through, expression mulish, gaze nailing him.

  Her feet stuttered to a stop,
gaze shifting to puzzled. She cleared her throat. “Officer…?”

  He pasted on Keydew’s friendliest smile. “Nathaniel Keydew at your service.” He grabbed her hand in a two-handed shake. “Patrol officer with the MCPD, though I’m studying to be a detective.”

  “Oh. Um. I’m Kat.” She stood there while he pumped, obvious discomfort tangling with confusion on her face. “I was expecting another man to be here. Tall, dark? Um, handsome?”

  Handsome? He could have barked a laugh at her inadvertent admission. She didn’t find Ryker so unappealing after all.

  Right now, he was Officer Keydew, though. He released her hand with a bright, inquisitive smile. “Mr. Inky-doo had to leave.”

  “Inky-doo…? Oh, Enkidu. I call him Ryker.”

  “Mr. Ryker, then.” He frowned at her shoulders, where the blades sheathed at her back peeked up, then gave a theatrical jerk of alarm. “Are those real swords?”

  “No, they’re only props.” She touched a hilt behind her head. “I’m practicing for a Renaissance faire.”

  She was the worst liar. Still, the character Keydew believed anything. “Okey-dokey. What can I do for you, Miss Kat?”

  “I’m working with Mr., um, Ryker on Kai Elias’s disappearance. Are you familiar with that?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I am.”

  “Ryker was supposed to be getting us permission to view the Roller-Blayd camera footage…”

  Here comes the fight. He was already regretfully shaking Keydew’s blond head. “I’m sorry, Miss Kat. That’s evidence in an ongoing investigation. Revealing it to non-law-enforcement personnel would be unethical. Frankly, ma’am, you don’t have a legitimate reason for it.”

  She grimaced. “I’m not asking for you to play me all of it. I only need a quick peek at the footage for the outside camera, the one facing the west parking lot. For the night Elias disappeared only. Please? It’s vital to our case. If you don’t help, I don’t know where I’ll turn next.”

  His stomach dropped. She meant it as a plea, but it was really a warning. Turn next? She’d proved herself remarkably persistent and clever. If he didn’t show her, she’d find another way to get the information—and maybe end up confronting those black-uniformed goons on her own.