by Dave Ferraro
Chapter Fifteen
Jordan glanced over at the GPS on his dashboard and made a right hand turn as it prompted him to, a taxi nearly grazing his right side as it slipped past him down the dark street. “I hate driving in the city.”
“Better you than me,” Brett muttered from the seat next to him.
Jordan snorted, looking at Brett’s profile from out of the corner of his eye. “You didn’t need to come with me, you know.”
Shrugging, Brett leaned back in his seat, his hands behind his head as he yawned. “What else was I gonna do? Everyone else ditched out on me, and everything’s tense at the mansion with the big guns there.”
“Yeah.” Jordan frowned. “It is tense.”
“So, I’m glad you finished your mission early,” Brett said. “Just us guys hanging out like we used to. We haven’t done this in a while, just shootin’ the breeze.”
“We are on a mission,” Jordan reminded him.
“Barely. Valor probably just felt bad for us and sent us out.”
“To meet a vampire.”
Brett shrugged. “It’s just Damien. He’s helped us out before. He’d probably rather be meeting up with Shanna anyway.”
“I’m sure.” Jordan tapped the steering wheel to a song that only he could hear, then sighed. “What do you think about General Kagan and Agent Ross?”
“Agent Ross is hot. In a sexy librarian way.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Jordan rolled his eyes. “But they seem like…they’re looking for something, like they want to find something wrong.”
“That’s probably their job.”
“Maybe,” Jordan frowned. “Jade’s texts make me think that they wouldn’t really approve of this outing, like they don’t want us working with anyone that isn’t human.”
“Makes sense. We’re monster hunters.”
“Yeah, but it’s not all black and white. They have to understand that. Not all humans are good, why would they think all monsters are bad?”
Brett sighed. “Dude, you need to relax. They’re probably just checking up on things. Monster hunting’s a dangerous business, and they want to make sure they have the right person in charge.” He paused. “Plus, didn’t you think all monsters were bad like, four months ago?”
Jordan considered. “Probably,” he admitted.
“Well, there you go. If there’s a problem, we’ll just have to show them what’s up.”
Jordan grunted his agreement, but didn’t think it would be that simple to convince them. Neither Kagan nor Ross seemed likely to be persuaded easily.
“You have arrived at your destination,” a woman’s voice announced from the GPS.
Jordan glanced to the left side of the street, startled to see the remains of the burned mansion rising from the ground like a relic from the past. He hadn’t realized they were so close. He remembered it being much further into the city.
Pulling up to the curb, he turned off his car and stared into the dark at the husk of a building, crumpled in upon itself, blackened and destroyed.
“It seems like we were here just yesterday,” Jordan said softly, almost nostalgically. “Remember Scarlet Fever? And Natalia posing as that witch Rocquelle?”
“I remember Lupe beating the shit out of me,” Brett grumbled, opening the car door and slamming it shut after he’d slipped out.
Jordan licked his lips. He’d forgotten about Lupe, the loup-garous that Brett had encountered. He was likely to have a sore spot after that confrontation. Loup-garous were female werewolves, but the worst kind, the kind that kept their human cunning and intelligence when they changed into monsters with razor-sharp claws and daggers for teeth. Many werewolves didn’t, depending on the type. Being a werewolf hunter, Jordan was fascinated by the loup-garous, a very different breed than the rest. They could fly, leaving a trail of gold and the stench of sulfur in their wake. A very strange characteristic for a were. But that was the sort of beast that voodoo bred. Strange, exotic.
Stepping out of the car, Jordan trudged after Brett, who quickly slipped past some hedges to the foot of what had been a beautiful mansion. Jordan paused where the grass was just beginning to grow green again, scanning the area and shivering in the cool air the evening had brought with it.
“You should have brought a coat.”
Jordan started, then laughed with delight as he regarded Noel standing beside him. “Noel!” He threw his arms around the handsome vampire and planted a kiss on his lips, which Noel returned eagerly, his lips lingering on Jordan’s long after the kiss had ended.
“My hunter,” Noel said, his voice a sexy rumble that made Jordan shiver with excitement.
“Yeah, yeah. Get a room,” Brett muttered behind them, breaking the spell.
Jordan blushed and pulled away from Noel, recollecting himself. Brett was only just getting used to the idea that Jordan was gay. He didn’t want to rub it in his face and make him feel uncomfortable. “It’s good to see you.”
“I had gathered that,” Noel smirked. He turned to Brett, who was watching him with narrowed eyes. “Hello, Brett.”
“Hey,” Brett greeted, hands stuffed in his pockets and shoulders braced against the cold. “Where’s Damien?”
“Damien had other pressing matters to attend to.” Noel cocked his head, looking back at Jordan. “When he heard that Shanna was in New Orleans, he naturally rushed down there himself, leaving me to the task Valor had assigned to him. Anytime that little blonde thing is involved, he goes running. Poor whipped vampire.”
“You should talk,” Jordan teased. “Rachel may have mentioned a vampire sneaking around the mansion a few weeks ago, making sure I was safe.”
“There was need for concern.”
Jordan rolled his eyes. “Uh huh.”
Brett cleared his throat. “While this is fun, chatting about which of you is a better stalker, we came here for a reason, and us humans get cold when it’s…you know, cold.”
Noel glanced at him. “My apologies. I took the liberty of examining the rubble before you arrived. Scarlet Fever’s ashes are here, as they should be. Had to remove a good deal of timber to get the scent, but she did not escape the blaze, I can assure you.”
“So, it’s not Scarlet,” Jordan said slowly, thinking. “Either someone was very inspired by her, or this is a coincidence.”
“Or Scarlet copied someone else and this has been going on for a long time,” Brett suggested.
Jordan nodded. “Maybe.” He sighed. “Well, all we can do now is let the others know what we’ve found. We won’t be much more help in New York.”
Brett watched him for a moment. “I’ll make the call. Take your time.”
He hurried back to the car, leaving Jordan looking after him, bewildered.
“Huh.”
Noel smiled and turned his face so that he was looking at his eyes. “Your friend just gave us a gift. Let’s not waste it.”
Jordan returned the smile. “We’d better not.” He pressed his lips to Noel’s and didn’t feel the least bit cold.