by Judith Post
"Getting a little soft, aren't you?" Ulrich teased.
"I’m not undead. I'm eternal," Enoch shot back. "It's cold outside."
They set off for the old fort a short distance from the city. The area was deserted enough, they wouldn't be noticed. First, they'd spar. Then Ulrich would let the girls hunt. They were both new enough to grow hungry fast. It was a good idea to keep them well fed. They'd need their strength if they ran into Feral.
Chapter 19
Enoch was surprised how fast the girls learned. Ulrich showed them another move to block an opponent, and he and Ulrich took turns sparring with them. Ulrich had his moves, and Enoch had his. Between them, the girls got double the practice. When Crystal was beginning to tire, Ulrich cut off the lesson.
"You're not going to become warriors overnight," he told them. "Tomorrow, we'll show you some offensive moves."
Lucinda smiled. "Are we going to try to hurt you?"
"Only if you kiss it and make it better when you're done." Ulrich's look was a challenge.
Lucinda didn't glance away. She met his gaze and held it. "My kiss will make you forget you ever got hurt."
Enoch sighed. Why did sparring almost always lead to flirting? Too much adrenaline? Too much body contact? "Give it a rest," he said. "It's time to feed."
Ulrich laughed. The man loved combat. Scuffles always put him in a better mood. "Training is food for the soul."
"For me, that means music and books." Enoch rolled his shoulders to loosen them. He usually wore dress shirts instead of snug fitting, stretchy material.
"Are you trying to impress us with your muscles?" Ulrich teased.
"Is it working?" Enoch flexed his biceps and Lucinda sighed.
Ulrich shrugged. "I've seen better."
"No, you haven't." Lucinda put a hand on Ulrich's arm. "Lucky for you he's taken."
Enoch cut off Ulrich's reply. His friend loved to banter almost as much as he liked to fight. They'd be here till daybreak. "The girls have used a lot of energy. Would they be better off feeding from me tonight?"
Ulrich shook his head. "No, I want them to learn to fend for themselves."
They started walking the alleys of River City.
"Use your sense of smell," Ulrich told the girls. "And listen."
They sniffed and could sense a heart beat before they saw their prey. Crystal wrinkled her nose as she sank her fangs into the first rat.
"Why so squeamish?" Ulrich asked.
"I have to kill something to eat it."
"So do humans. Where do you think hamburgers come from? A cow has to die. You're used to eating flesh. We drink blood. Not all that different." When she grimaced, Ulrich shrugged. "Just remember, Mother Nature has big teeth and a nasty temper. It's survival of the fittest for every living thing. Even a tiny sapling has to fight for its place in the sun."
Enoch agreed. The Earth was a place of beauty, but it was a cruel mistress. It could bathe you in sunshine and then kill you with high winds. The Garden of Eden was a thing of the past. And that's part of what Caleb loved about it here. Perfection, for him, proved tedious.
When Lucinda reached for a stray cat, Crystal gripped her wrist. The cat arched its back, hissed, and ran away.
"Why did you do that?" Lucinda demanded.
"I like cats. I had a kitten when I was little."
Lucinda sighed. "We raised rabbits, and I fed them, but we still ate them."
Crystal's expression crumpled.
Enoch felt sorry for her. "There are plenty of other things to hunt. If you don't want to drain cats, find raccoons and squirrels."
She nodded. "I'm afraid of dogs."
"Now, you have bigger teeth than they do," Ulrich told her.
They walked the city until nearly dawn, only stopping at a specialty shop to admire its window, filled with mannequins dressed in Halloween costumes for adults.
Pull-on, werewolf masks that dripped fake blood from white fangs vied with short, sexy, naughty maid outfits.
"Bet you'd look good in one of those," Ulrich told Lucinda.
She arched an eyebrow. "Someday, you might find out."
They'd just turned toward the apartment, taking a shortcut through another alley, when a couple entered it and started toward them. Ulrich's shoulders squared, tensed for battle, at the same time Enoch's did. If someone meant to take Crystal or Lucinda from them, they thought wrong, but the man and woman seemed oblivious of them. The man stopped and leaned against a brick wall, pulling the woman toward him. Fangs glinted in the moonlight, and she bent her head to his throat. The man groaned with pleasure.
"Get a room." Ulrich cleared his throat and kept advancing on them. He motioned for the girls to stay where they were. When he and Enoch were close enough to see them better, the woman stepped out of the shadows and smiled.
"We meet again," Scarlet said, pushing back her hair. No longer pulled back in a chignon, it fell in a smooth sheet past her shoulders. A motion sensor flicked on, and the pale strands gleamed in its light.
Ulrich looked surprised. "Feral just changed you, and she trusts you to drink from a customer?"
"She let me satisfy myself with her blood. Sort of like drinking from Enoch." Scarlet licked her lips. "Something I'd love to do."
"Not gonna happen." Ulrich looked to his friend. "Lucky us, right? Feral changed another mortal."
Enoch wasn't in the mood to deal with Scarlet. Every time he saw her, he wanted to blast her. "You're new, so I'll give you a warning. From now on, don't bare your fangs outside the club."
Scarlet shrugged. "That's not in Caleb's rules."
"I don't report to Caleb. I was sent here to keep humans safe. I can interpret that any way I want. Having vampires drink from them in alleys doesn't strike me as wise. Do it again, and I'll turn you to dust."
The man she was drinking from stepped forward. Thick, brown hair waved back from his forehead. Piercing blue eyes mocked them. His features looked chiseled, but his mouth looked petulant. He was young. Too young. He smirked. "Isn't the saying I'll toast you?"
Ulrich raised a blond eyebrow. "Not for vamps, boy. Enoch does turn us to dust."
"Boy?" Ulrich's barb found its mark. Enoch shook his head. It was game on, he could tell. "I'm eighteen!"
"Really?" Ulrich turned to Enoch. "I was wrong. He's a toddler."
"Ulrich…."
But Ulrich ignored him. "Scarlet must like them young…and helpless."
Scarlet snarled, but glanced down the alleyway at the girls. She'd known they were there and had chosen this spot on purpose. Why?
"Young is easy to take advantage of." Enoch studied Scarlet's partner.
"Do you have a name, boy?" Ulrich was purposely baiting him. Enoch didn't interfere. His friend had a reason.
"Lance. Now you can stop calling me boy."
Ulrich shook his head. "Venom's an addiction. If you're not careful, you'll end up like Crystal's mom, willing to sell her body or her soul for a quick fix."
Lance's eyes went wide. "Crystal? I go to school with her. We're in some of the same classes. At least, we were. She disappeared."
Enoch's gaze locked with Ulrich's. His friend had pushed the right buttons. Lance hadn't noticed the girls. Scarlet had, and she'd led him to them. Too much of a coincidence. Why was Scarlet, the spy, seducing someone who knew Crystal?
"Were you friends?" Ulrich asked.
The boy's lips turned down. "Hardly." His look challenged them all. "My dad can buy and sell all of you. Crystal was pretty, but she's dirt poor. We didn't run in the same circles."
Ulrich asked, "Were you worried about her when she disappeared?"
"Why would I be?"
Lucinda and Crystal could hear them, Enoch knew. Hopefully, Crystal thought less of Lance than he thought of her. Why wouldn't she? She had beauty and brains. This boy had a rich daddy and good looks. That's about all that could be said for him.
How self-centered was he? Enoch decided to find out. "Feral bought Crystal and used her
at the club until someone got careless and changed her."
Lance whirled to face Scarlet. "You said you couldn't change me."
No sympathy. No indignation. Enoch wasn't surprised.
"She can't change anyone." Ulrich sneered, dismissing her. "Look at her itty-bitty fangs, almost like toys. She has no real powers yet."
Scarlet glared, but didn't react. Interesting.
"Why do you want changed?" Enoch asked. "Why become undead?"
"Look at him!" Lance pointed to Ulrich. "He's a real, living, breathing Viking!"
Ulrich held out his hands, unimpressed. "Guilty as charged, but breathing's pushing it."
"I saw you at Feral's club. You drink and party and do what you want…and you'll live until some badass figures out how to kill you."
"That's what you see when you look at me?" Blue eyes flashing, Ulrich stalked toward him. Lance took a few steps backward. "You won't last more than a few months as a vampire, boy. No one wants changed, except whore-girl here. She's an addict. The rest of us fought it, then learned to live with it. I was a warrior before the change, and now I'm a general who hunts rogues. You!" He jabbed his finger in Lance's chest. "You'll be someone's kill before your fangs reach puberty."
Lance squared his shoulders. "I was wrong about you. You're just an undead do-gooder. Why should I listen to you?"
"Because he's trying to help you," Enoch said. "You have everything to live a good life. Better than good. Don't throw it away."
Lance laughed at them. "You guys have been around too long. You've forgotten how to have fun." He laced his arm through Scarlet's. "We're going now. We haven't done anything wrong, so get out of our way."
A blur of movement stopped him. Lance took a breath and blinked when Crystal stood in front of him as a vampire. He swallowed hard and stammered, "Listen, about calling you poor…."
"Don't shift," she told him. "You have everything you'd ever want." A blush crept up her neck and colored her pale cheeks. "You're smart, handsome, rich…."
He waved her warning away. "You always had a crush on me. I know. I could tell. But let's face it. You're a goody-two-shoes. Always have been. I bet you're even trying to be a good vampire. But look, if I can change, we could hang out together. That would be cool. We can learn our vamp skills as study partners."
Her yellow eyes glowed.
Lance grinned. "You look freaking hot as a vamp girl."
The blush rose to her hairline.
Scarlet tugged on his arm. "We have to go. It's almost sunrise. Feral's going to wonder about us."
Lance made a small salute to Crystal. "See you around. Hope it's soon."
As they left, Lucinda flew to Crystal's side. "Don't listen to that guy. It's the stuff my brothers would say to girls to get in their pants."
But Crystal's gaze followed Lance until he was out of sight.
Ulrich kicked an empty bottle that had fallen out of a dumpster. It hurtled against the brick building and shattered. "When we get home, we need to have a long talk."
Talk was cheap. Enoch couldn't help but worry. He took one glance at the look on Crystal's face and knew they were in trouble. She liked that boy way too much. And Feral had him in her pocket.
Chapter 20
It was close, making it back to the apartment before sunrise. A clear sky greeted the day. The usual gray clouds of late October had scooted away, and a bone-chilling cold took their place. Angel waved as they filed inside. She sat at the kitchen island, happily munching on cereal.
Ulrich saw her and motioned for the girls to forget their talk. "I'll catch you tonight."
Crystal and Lucinda started down the hallway to their rooms. Lucinda turned and called to Ulrich over her shoulder. "There's a spare bed in my room now. You'd get more sleep if you can behave yourself."
"I'm not the one I'm worried about." He followed her into her darkened room.
Enoch shook his head. He and Ulrich fought in many campaigns together, and they often camped with female generals, but his friend had better be careful. Lucinda had more than wars and battles on her mind.
Once Angel was ready, Enoch drove her to school. He entered the building with her to deliver two checks to the school principal—one for gym shoes and another for matching T-shirts from some company he'd never heard of. Apparently, kids got excited about that brand.
He passed the cafeteria on the way to the office and saw kids eating. "Do you serve breakfast?" he asked the school secretary.
She nodded. "A lot of parents have to leave for work when they get their kids up. No time for fixing them something and usually not enough money. We've found that if kids aren't hungry, they concentrate better."
A good plan. Enoch didn't mix with mortals very often. It was better that way, then they didn't notice that they aged and he didn't. This school surprised him. Every article he read berated schools and teachers as failing to educate children, but everyone he'd met here seemed to be giving it their all. He was beginning to think that being a teacher was almost as thankless a job as his mission, but even with the odds stacked against them, these people were dedicated to helping students.
He was pondering the state of education as he walked to his Land Rover. His cell phone interrupted him.
"I could use your help, buddy." Danny sounded flustered and worried. "Derek and two cops assigned to watch the club went there last night and never reported in. We've tried contacting all three of them, but no luck."
"You sent them to the club?" Enoch couldn't keep the irritation out of his voice.
"Not me, Tony did. He didn't have much of a choice. We've had reports of underage kids trying to sneak in and causing trouble by hanging around the area, bugging people for fake IDs."
Enoch took a deep breath. Tony was Danny's supervisor and a damned good one. "There shouldn't be a problem," he finally said, forcing himself to calm down. The trouble was, he liked Derek. The kid hated vampires, had a healthy fear of them. Enoch didn't like the idea of him rubbing elbows with them or worse. "Feral's club is disgusting, but legit. No vampires would jump mortals there."
"That's what I thought, too, so where are they? They went to the club and didn't come back."
"We'll know pretty soon. I'm almost downtown." Enoch flew through yellow lights on his way to the new station, which had moved into the city only a few blocks from his apartment. When he pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later, Danny was waiting for him.
Danny slid into the car. "I don't have a good feeling about this."
"You always say that when vampires are involved."
"And I'm always right—unless it's the good ones, that is. Feral's not one of them."
Enoch smiled. Danny differentiated between good and bad vampires these days, just like he did. Danny was just as happy to see Bart or Ulrich as he was.
When he slowed down to turn into the alley that led to the club's parking lot, they both spotted Derek's unmarked car, along with a few others.
"That's a good thing, right?" Danny asked.
"It could be. They might still be here." Enoch started for the back door, Danny close behind him. "Are you sure you want to come in with me?"
Danny lowered his shoulders, ready to take down anyone who got in his way. "If Derek's in there, I'm going after him."
Enoch nodded and glanced at the sky. Still sunshine. "No vampires can come outside."
"Good, then if things get ugly, I'll run for the door." Danny had played football in high school and college. He looked the part, but no one could compare with Incisor. The bouncer looked like bulked-up muscles on legs. It was past time for Danny to start carrying a gun with silver shot to defend himself. Enoch made a mental note to make sure his friend got one.
Before Enoch could knock, the door opened, and Feral smiled at them.
"Good. You came after hours. That makes your visit more personal."
Enoch's gaze scanned the empty bar. "We're here on business. Three police officers visited your bar last night, and none of them
reported back to the station."
She ran a long, crimson fingernail down the front of Enoch's shirt. The color matched her lipstick. Her voice became a purr. "Maybe they liked it here and wanted to stay."
"Maybe, but we'd like to make sure." Enoch glanced at Danny.
Danny flashed his badge. "We had reports of incidents with minors, trying to get in the bar."
Feral stood too close to Enoch, invading his personal space. She was enjoying herself too much with her fake come-ons, trying to irritate him, so he ignored her. "Incisor always checks IDs," she said.
"What about Lance?" Enoch asked.
"What about him? Scarlet has a thing for him, meets him on her own away from here."
"Good to know, or we'd have to close you down." Danny took a minute to inspect his surroundings. "But the kids have become a nuisance to nearby businesses, so we sent men here to check on things."
She raised an eyebrow. "You'd like to close my club, too?"
"You're bringing vampires from all over the place to our city. What do you think?" Danny didn't mince words.
She smiled again, letting her fangs show this time. "Don't most cities encourage new businesses?"
"If they contribute something to the community." Danny shrugged at the glitz and glamour of the club. "I don't think your club's prosperity is going to spill over into other businesses."
"I pay taxes," she told him.
"Hooray, you're an upstanding citizen. Now where are my men?" Danny had played word games as much as he was going to.
Feral shifted tactics. "If they didn't leave, they must have spent the night with some of my girls. Let's go see."
Danny looked uncomfortable. "Don't you keep some kind of records? Can't you go upstairs and send them down?"
Feral's eyes sparkled with amusement. "My customers don't appreciate records, and they seldom give me their real names, so I don't bother. All we care about is their age. Incisor can sniff out anyone under twenty-one. We'll have to go room to room to find your men."
Danny glanced at Enoch.
"Lead the way," Enoch told her. He'd seen vampires in all kinds of situations since he'd come to Earth. She wasn't going to shock him.