Blood Lust (Fallen Angels Book 3)

by Judith Post

  Table of Contents

  Blood Lust

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Discover More Fallen Angels Stories

  Blood Lust

  The Third Fallen Angels Novel

  by

  Judith Post

  I'd like to thank my critique partners, Ann Staadt and Mary Lou Rigdon, and my daughter Holly for all their red ink and comments on this novel.

  They gave me lots of advice, and let's hope I fixed the clunky parts they found J

  I'd also like to thank Sharon Pelletier at Dystel and Goderich and Michael Prete at http://vertex10.com/ who's designed all of my covers.

  Chapter 1

  Enoch glanced out the French doors that led to the balcony. Another gray, glowering sky for Three Rivers. Perfect. He wouldn't have to close the drapes to darken the room for Voronika. Northeast Indiana provided lots of heavy clouds in late October. Bad for people with sunshine deficit disorders. Great for vampires. But gloom didn't prod his sense of foreboding. No, he sensed a shift in the air, a whiff of trouble.

  He cracked the doors and stepped outside. Definitely chilly. When he'd come to Earth to hunt rogues, he'd tracked them from one corner of the world to another. He could always sense their general location, even though they proved tricky to find once he got there. Right now, there were new vampires in Three Rivers. He inhaled, tasting the stench on his tongue. Not rogues. But not any of Caleb's vampire generals either. So why were they here? He'd have to track them down, but not tonight. Tonight, guests were coming.

  Voronika swept out of the bedroom, dressed in tight, black jeans and a snug, black, long-sleeved T-shirt. She'd pulled her long, platinum hair up in a ponytail, trying for a casual look. The hair-do only accentuated her high cheekbones and slanted, yellow eyes. Blue today. She'd put her colored contacts in to look mortal.

  The aroma of simmering sauces hung in the air—herbs, garlic, and wine. She sniffed appreciatively. "Smells good. You didn't use too many spices, did you? Maggie's still having trouble with morning sickness."

  Voronika oscillated between being ecstatic for Maggie and fighting her envy that Maggie could bear children when she couldn't. He felt for her. "I made coq au vin—chicken in a white wine sauce."

  She settled onto one of the stools at the island that separated the kitchen from the rest of the large room. "Maggie's not drinking alcohol."

  "The alcohol evaporates with the heat." He closed the doors and came to sit across from her. She motioned for him to lean forward. She brushed a fleck of whipped cream off his cheek. He loved to cook. It was something he could do century after century, like his writing.

  Neither he nor Voronika had to eat, but they enjoyed it. He could survive on the Light, and Voronika only needed blood, but food was a social sharing that let him be creative and reminded Voronika of her mortal roots. They'd invited Danny and Maggie over for an early supper, so that they could watch a movie after their meal, and Maggie would still be home and in bed at a decent hour. She tired quickly now.

  Voronika raised a pale eyebrow at him. "What's for dessert?"

  "Chocolate mousse."

  She licked her lips. "Living with you sure beats draining rats."

  "You haven't done that in a long time."

  "Why would I?" Since she'd been drinking his angel blood, she didn't have to hunt to feed.

  He reached for her hand, always cool to the touch. "We're lots more than drinking buddies."

  "You're mine." Her words quickened his pulse. He'd wanted Voronika from the moment he saw her. She leaned across the counter to kiss his cheek. "What movie did you pick to see?"

  A clever change of topic. Voronika could only stand sentiment for so long. Enoch shook his head. "Not my choice. Danny said Maggie was bringing a chick flick, something funny. Her hormones are still out of kilter. If she watches something weepy, she's a mess."

  "Funny's good." Voronika had been struggling, too, Enoch knew. She was with child when Vlad took her. She lost the baby during the change. She'd talked about it once. Never again.

  No vampire could procreate except by creating more of their own kind. That, in itself, was a tricky thing. Not everyone, chosen, survived. Voronika would never turn someone—she hated what she was too much—and she couldn't carry a baby. She was happy for Maggie, but Maggie's pregnancy reminded her of what she'd never have—a child.

  The doorbell rang, and Voronika hurried to greet their friends. Maggie and Danny burst into the foyer in hugs and laughter. Enoch went to join them.

  "Hope you made lots. I'm eating for two now." Maggie grinned up at him.

  Maggie's short, brown curls bounced around her head like a dizzy halo. Her grin was infectious, and he felt himself relax. The last time he'd seen her, she'd been pale and tired, and then she'd slapped her hand over her mouth and dashed for the bathroom.

  "Is she all right?" he'd asked Danny.

  Danny had shaken his head. "Morning sickness. Pretty common for mortals. My sister Meredith puked her guts out with her second boy."

  A disturbing image. Enoch couldn't help but worry.

  "Sis went straight from puking to mood swings," Danny said. "Not sure which was worse."

  Maggie was in the mood swing phase now. Danny had warned him that she went from laughing to crying at a moment's notice. If Enoch could manage it, he'd rather keep her laughing.

  Danny slapped him on the shoulder and gave the sprawling apartment's luxurious surroundings a quick glance. The expensive antiques and Oriental rugs were commonplace to him now. He handed Enoch his coat and headed to the kitchen island to peek at the pots on the six-burner stove. "Maggie only let me eat one sandwich for lunch. Told me not to ruin my appetite for tonight. What's on the menu?"

  So much for small talk. Enoch hung his coat on a hook by the door and followed after him. "You hungry?"

  "You did promise food." Danny settled his linebacker frame on the nearest stool.

  Enoch slid a tray of crudités his way and went to grab him a beer. He poured wine for Voronika and him and a glass of sparkling grape juice for Maggie. She smiled when he offered it to her, and tears misted her eyes.

  "You're so sweet. You went to extra trouble for me." She blinked and forced a smile.

  Oh, boy, hormones were hell. "Anything for a friend," he said and raised his glass in a toast. "To good company."

  They all moved to the round, teak, dining table to enjoy their food. Maggie hadn't been kidding. She was eating for two and kept up with Danny. Enoch had just cleared the table to serve dessert when Danny's cell phone rang.

  Danny glanced at the number and grimaced. "Derek."

  "You're working a new case, right?" Enoch vaguely remembered something about a missing girl. Danny hadn't asked for his help, so he assumed there were decent leads.

  Danny gave a quick no
d. He pressed the phone to his ear and barked, "I'm at Enoch's. Make it quick." He frowned as he listened. When he finished the call, his frown turned to a scowl. "The girls' dad came to town. He's staying at a motel and Derek met him there." His gaze locked with Enoch's. "Derek thinks I should bring you with me to listen to the guy's story."

  "Really? Why me?"

  "The dad swears a vampire took his daughters."

  Enoch leaned back to digest the news. The vampires he smelled might not be rogues, but they were still trouble. "I thought only one girl went missing."

  "I'll tell you in the car."

  Voronika frowned. "Out of all the cities in the country, Three Rivers should be the last place a vampire would hunt."

  True. Caleb had made Enoch an angel's promise that he'd find and kill any vampire who drained a mortal here. Vamps couldn't even use them as take-out. "Derek buys this guy's story?"

  "He must. He wants to see you." Danny pushed away from the table. "Gotta go, girls. You want to watch the movie without us?"

  Maggie nodded. "We might as well. You won't cry if you miss it."

  Danny grinned. They all knew chick flicks weren't his favorites. He kept waiting for the action scenes. "If I take too long, will Voronika drive you home?"

  Voronika raised her right hand in an oath. "I pinkie promise."

  "Always a smartass." Danny held up his dessert and turned to Enoch. "You got a plastic cup I can put this in?"

  "You know how I feel about plastic."

  "I thought you only hated Styrofoam." Enoch wouldn't drink coffee in a Styrofoam cup. Danny shook his head. "How picky are you?"

  "Just take it in the fluted glass. I'll bring it back after we talk to the dad."

  Danny would have argued, but they were wasting time. He grabbed the heavy crystal and went to get his coat. Enoch pulled on his cashmere jacket. It matched his tan, wool trousers. Voronika said light colors worked better with his dark hair and eyes. Tan showed more stains, but if it made her happy, it worked for him.

  Danny sighed. "This dad's gonna take one look at you and wonder who the hell we called in."

  "Too bad. Are we ready?"

  With a huff, Danny followed him. "You're driving."

  "How else can you finish your dessert?" Whenever Enoch went anywhere with Danny, he expected to drive…unless he offered his friend the keys to his Jaguar. But that wasn't happening today. Today, they'd take the Land Rover. He stopped at the door and looked back at the girls.

  Voronika waved him away. "Get going. Make the world a safer place."

  That was one thing about mating with a vampire. They were damned independent.

  In the private elevator, on their way down to the lobby, Enoch said, "You might want to fill me in on the case."

  "Not much to tell. Mommy's hooked on something, not sure what. Has two, gorgeous daughters. The mom's a looker herself, but any man in his right mind would run. The dad took a hike a long time ago. Still drops in every once in a while to see the girls. Says hi, considers that being a good father, and takes off. Came to see them a couple of days ago, and they're both gone."

  Enoch frowned. "I thought only one girl went missing."

  "So did we." The elevator doors opened and Danny exited into the building's lobby. He started for the parking lot and Enoch's Land Rover with its tinted windows. A blessing, really, so that Voronika could ride in it and not be seen or worry about the sun.

  "What about the mom?" Enoch started the engine and waited for Danny to point him in the right direction. "What did she have to say?"

  "She said the older girl, Crystal, left for school three weeks ago and never came home. She didn't call it in, though, because she said she was like that when she was seventeen." Danny's tone expressed his disgust. "The school called us to report her as a missing person."

  "And the second girl?" Enoch asked.

  "The mom tried to keep an eye on her, but when she had a little too much to drink and passed out, Angel took off."

  Enoch huffed out a sigh. "Who'd name their kid Angel?"

  "Some of us still think of kids as pure and innocent, like angels, unless we've met you."

  "Not funny. I'm an archangel—a messenger and warrior."

  "And Caleb?"

  "A seraphim." Enoch shook his head. "Ironic, right? The ones who constantly worship the One." Maybe that's what made him snap. Worshipping didn't quite suit Caleb.

  Danny stopped to consider that, then shrugged. "Who knew? Most mortals think of halos and white wings."

  "Most mortals think wrong." Enoch returned to the topic at hand. "How long has Angel been missing?"

  "Two days. Her dad isn't happy."

  "I wouldn't be either. I'd be worried sick."

  Danny shook his head. "You don't get it. He's not happy because he made a trip for nothing."

  Enoch gripped the steering wheel. "Bastard, doesn't he wonder what happened to them?"

  "He's hoping if they go missing he won't have to pay child support."

  Enoch sighed. There it was—two missing girls whom no one missed. He considered it a tragedy, but it wasn't unique.

  Danny scraped the last of the chocolate mousse out of the fancy glass, then put it and the spoon in the car's middle cup-holder. "Hey, at least we care. Let's talk to the dad and see if we get some clues to find these girls."

  Enoch nodded and turned left at the end of Main Street. Danny gave him directions from there. Hopefully, the dad would have more information than the mother did. Enoch wanted to find these girls—alive and well.

  Chapter 2

  The motel was a chain of rooms, advertising small kitchenettes, that was situated between Three Rivers and Huntington. Enoch saw Derek's car parked at unit 7, and he pulled in beside it. Derek must have been waiting for them, because the minute they climbed from the Land Rover, he opened the room's door and motioned them inside.

  The room was small and clean, except for its occupant's untidiness. Enoch stopped at the rumpled bed and frowned at the trash can, spilling over with empty beer cans. The girls' father brushed greasy hair out of his eyes. He squinted at Enoch.

  "Who the hell are you?"

  Danny stepped forward. "I'm Detective Nahler, and this is my consultant, Enoch Smith." Enoch didn't really have a last name, but he'd adopted Smith for occasions such as this.

  The man blinked. "The kid here told me that you'd believe me about vampires."

  Derek bristled. "I'm twenty-six."

  "Big deal, you're still wet behind the ears." The man belched. He stared at Enoch. "Can't tell how old you are."

  "I'm eternal."

  The man laughed. "Sure, you are. Rich as hell, too. What do you know about vampires?"

  "A pack of them killed a friend of mine. I've been hunting them ever since."

  There was something in Enoch's tone that made the girls' dad hesitate. "You're not kidding, are you?"

  "I carry a crossbow that shoots wooden stakes with me everywhere I go."

  "No shit."

  "It works," Enoch said. "Now, tell us about your daughters."

  The man scraped his hand through his chin-length hair. "The whore I married never gets off her ass to do anything. The girls have raised themselves."

  Enoch interrupted. "Your older daughter is seventeen. The younger, eleven. How long were you and your wife together?"

  "Probably a year and a half. I stuck with Candi until Crystal was born. Then she went back to sleeping around and I took off."

  "And Angel?" Enoch asked.

  "Candi gave me a call, said she needed some place to crash for a while. I wasn't with anyone, so we hooked up again." His hands curled into fists. "Told me she was on the pill, lying bitch. Left before Angel was born. Found some new guy, but she did a paternity test, didn't she? I'm still paying."

  "Why didn't you try for custody of the girls?" Enoch waited for his answer.

  The man's eyes went wide. "I have two kids with my old lady, don't I? Can hardly afford our bills, as it is."

&nbs
p; Enoch bit back a reply. There were plenty of men who didn't pay child support and never saw their children. This guy wasn't anything to brag about, but he wasn't one of the worst either.

  Derek came to stand beside Enoch. "Tell him about the vampires."

  "It's like this, man. I called Candi to tell her I was in town and wanted to see the girls. No one picked up. I know the woman never leaves her house, so I went there. I went to the door and looked in, and a guy was on top of her, his fangs jammed in her neck. It freaked me out, so I ran back to my car. I didn't leave, though. Instead, I waited for the guy to come out. I thought I'd go in and have it out with Candi, but then he walked to this fancy sports car and I decided to follow him."

  Enoch asked, "What time was it? Day or night?"

  "About eight at night, but it was a cloudy day. It would be dark soon. I thought about that. Vampires can't do sunlight, right?"

  "Right." Enoch nodded for him to go on.

  "Anyway, I tailed him back to an old warehouse off Clinton Street. After he went inside, I looked in a window, and the damn place is a nightclub with a bar and stripper pole. A butt load of pretty girls were setting up, and I bet Crystal and Angel are two of them."

  "You didn't see them there?" Danny asked.

  "No, man, I was gawking pretty good when a shadow flew overhead and some guy dropped down in the back lot. He had leather wings. They folded up, and he went in the back door. That was it for me. I got the hell out of there and called you."

  Danny grew serious. "You can't tell anyone about this. If the vampires find out you saw them, you'll be their next target."

  Not true, but no one wanted to panic every citizen in Three Rivers. Things would go from bad to chaos.

  "Are you crazy? Who'd believe me if I told them? They'd lock me away to dry out. But if those things have my little girls, you should do something about it. Go rescue them."

  Enoch had heard all he needed to. He pointed a finger at Danny. "If they started a club here, there could be lots of them. You're not coming with me this time."

  "This is my city, my jurisdiction." Danny squared his shoulders. "It's a missing child case. I'm going, too."