I put on a bulletproof vest, not because I was worried about being shot, but because it tended to slow down vamps. I strapped it tight and walked out to my shed, behind my house.
In the shed, I found the exact thing I was looking for; family, friendly, bombs. Film canisters filled with black powder and small needles of steel, sealed tight with a cannon fuse sticking out the top. Everything a good bounty hunter needed. Not quite the state of the art grenade, but those fuckers cost more than I cared to part with, since they don't always kill vamps. My homemade bombs were just as effective. Maybe not as much punch, but enough confusion and pain to hold them off long enough to kill them.
I filled a small duffle bag with the bombs, and ran out to my truck and jumped in the driver's seat.
I fired it up and stepped on the gas pedal, peeled out of my driveway and headed into town.
* * * *
When I got to the Wolf's Den, I found Ian's human bodyguards well guarding. If you didn't know what to look for you would think they were just amateurs doing what they got paid to do. But I could tell that they were killers. Maybe it was the way they looked at you with dead eyes, like it didn't matter one way or the other to them if you lived. Maybe it was the fact I could spot guns concealed all over them. But I personally think it was the fact they put out this air of danger, tinged with the blood of the people they had killed.
I looked them both over. I could tell the tall blonde one on the left recognized me. It showed for a moment in his eyes before he blinked with slow, purpose. When he opened his brown eyes, they had clamped down on the emotion that had escaped. The black bodyguard on the right was taller than an average person. He may have been pushing seven feet, but he was foreign. If he wasn't, then he was stupid and uninformed about who he was about to pick a fight with.
As I walked up to the office door, which was closed, they both stepped in front of me.
"Now listen boys, my name is Ariana Reynolds, I am sure you know I work for Ian. I bartend at night for him, I just need to leave him a note, I am calling out for the night."
"I don't give a rat's ass; you are not going in this office.” The blonde guy said, while the black guy just stood silent.
"Listen man, I need in that office.” I thought playing the embarrassed lover might work and I said; “I left um, well some personal items in there and I wouldn't want the other employees to see. I am some what a favorite of Ian's for more than a few reasons,” smiling with as much charm as I could muster at them I continued, “I am um—"
The black guard shook his head and Blondie spoke up again.
"Like I said, I don't give a fuck what your problems are. It's not my problem if you spread your legs for the boss, he said no one goes in, and that's that!"
"What the fuck did you say to me?” I replied, as my eyes drained of emotion and became as dead as theirs.
I coldly watched their reactions as they recognized in me what they were—a killer.
"I eat little boys like you for breakfast, I would suggest stepping aside before I start to get pissed off, and teach you some manners.” I let emotion float out of my body with slow precision as I became still and centered. Deciding which guns I was going to draw, I decided to go with big is better, and in one swift move, I had the shotgun drawn and pointed at the black guy.
Before they could react, the office door flew open, and a very sleepy looking Ian glared at all three of us.
"God damn-it Ariana! If you kill these two, I will be garnishing your paychecks until you have paid me back their wages for the entire year."
The blonde guy turned around and stared at him, “What do you mean if she kills us? Aren't you concerned your little piece of ass might end up dead?"
They laughed with loud guffaws, Ian stared at me as he replied, implying that the bodyguards were not respected enough to deserve eye contact.
"I think you misunderstand who this is exactly. Sikaoki is the bane of vampire kind, the reaper, the executioner. If you doubt her ability to kill you, then be my guest and pick a fight with her. I do not doubt that she will be cleaning your blood off one of the many knives she has on her body, or that workers will be patching the holes in the wall from one of her many guns! She may look harmless enough, but Sikaoki is not to be messed with."
I shouldered past the two bodyguards and followed a swaggering Ian back into the office, and closed the door in the guards’ faces.
Ian rubbed his hands across his face, then stared at me. I think he was contemplating what he was going to say. When he spoke he was very angry.
"What are you doing here?” He all but shouted. “Last night you were angry at me, I did not think you would be waking me up this early in the day. I do believe you said you would see me tonight at work” He turned his back to me, walked to the couch and sank down to it with a tiredness he shouldn't have felt.
"First of all, I didn't think you could rise this early and I was going to leave a note for you explaining what has happened. Secondly, your bodyguards are pricks. And thirdly, you are being a prick and I don't need the fucking attitude right now. We got some problems in the City Different."
"I figured that was why the extra arsenal. But I already know I have intruders. They are feeding in my territory without my permission and by doing so they are challenging me"
"Well for starters these rogue vamps you already know about are killing innocent people, and I mean brutally. Secondly, I thought you ran a tighter ship than that to not realize some of your kiss has gone AWOL. If it isn't one of yours, then you have an invader, and therefore, I am stepping in. Finally, you can save your arguments, this is my call to make and I don't give a shit about whether this is breaking some stupid ass code of your vampire political system"
"This is an intruder and this is my territory, if I fail to rise to the bait, all of the vampires on Earth will think me an easy target. The challenges will come rolling in one after another.” Ian replied standing to meet my anger.
"No,” I said wanting to fight. “This is my town, I am the vamp hunter, and I will handle it, besides the cops will let me in. Six dead bodies multiple vampire marks, they think it is you and your kiss."
"Just because you are the Reaper, doesn't mean you get jurisdiction in my territory,” Ian stood and advanced on me. “This is my town too, and I am not going to put my fate, and that of my kiss, in your hands. Sorry, Ariana, but I am more equipped to handle this problem than you are.” Standing toe-to-toe with a very old, and very large vampire is a little intimidating, however I was not about to back down.
"I think you better back the fuck up,” I said once again letting the emotion drain from my eyes. My hand started to itch for my gun. While Ian and I were kinda friends—with benefits, it didn't mean that he couldn't kill me. Or worse yet turn me.
"Fine,” He walked away without further argument and that made me more nervous. This is not the Ian I knew.
I stared at him puzzled. He sighed and stared back at me. He sat on his desk, I still wanted my gun in my hand, not knowing what to do; I took a chance and sat on the couch.
No, I didn't turn my back to him, but I went for somewhat of a not to worried about what he might do to me pose.
As I was about to speak, Ian's angry words and a wave of his hand cut me off. “I suggest you keep me informed about your progress, and I will do the same. Know that the only fucking reason I am willing to deal with your pain-in-the-ass attitude is that I have not rested, I have not eaten and I have not the energy to fight a losing battle. I know you Sikaoki, you will do what you want whether I forbid you to or not. So we might as well work together on this one as we both have something to gain by it. I will have my kiss out tonight after they wake, to discover what they can. I suggest you find them first if you want the kill...” My cell phone interrupted him when it began to ring.
"Ariana Reynolds,” I said as I flipped the phone open, I nodded as I got the okay to hunt and kill the rogue vamps from the local law, and agreed that yes I would meet with the Chie
f of local police; I sighed as I hung up and looked at Ian.
"No need to recount the conversation Sikaoki, I heard it all, but then, I know you were debating on how much info you were going to give me. You need to go. The police have a greater need of you than I do."
Ian looked at me with a small grin that didn't reach his eyes. With that rude dismissal, I stood to leave and heard a whisper from him; I am not sure if he spoke directly to my mind, or if he said it out loud.
"Watch your back"
CHAPTER TEN
As I drove the few miles to the police station, I thought about how Ian had managed to needle his way into my heart.
Sure, we were friends, but that didn't mean I should have cared about whether he lived or died. He was already dead for crying out loud.
I pulled into the station's parking lot. I parked far back. Maybe a little walk would clear my head a little before I talked with the chief. I nodded to two police officers when I brushed past them in the lobby. A receptionist asked for my name and my business. When I stated my name, her eyes grew wide in wonder which made me chuckle. I loved being the reaper. My reputation preceded me.
She called Chief Aragon, and I sat down in an uncomfortable chair and waited for him to come and greet me.
My first impression of him was that he was an ex-military man, with a big ego and a crappy attitude.
He walked up in a wrinkled suit, which looked like he had slept in it, no tie and very practical shoes that didn't go with the rest of his outfit. He took my hand and shook, squeezing it in some sort of macho crap that as a woman, I just didn't get.
I didn't wince but shook back with all the vigor he was showing me. “Chief Aragon, nice to meet you,” I commented as he let go of me and I resisted the urge to massage my palm.
"Please call me Hector,” grabbing my elbow he started to lead me back towards his office.
I shook my arm loose, and walked next to him thinking what a chauvinist he was being.
I walked a few steps behind him. I noticed my surroundings and thought what a dump. The place looked undermanned with un-qualified cops. I saw multiple desks covered with an assortment of papers, as well as seedy looking cops interviewing drug dealers, and other such criminals. I was almost happy they had called me in to deal with the supernatural aspect of these recent crimes. Vampires would chew these guys up and spit them out.
When he stopped I looked through the open blinds of the office he seemed to be taking me too. Scratched up desks, a smoky haze permeated throughout the room, though I didn't see a cigarette lit, and three guys occupied the room.
Chief Aragon rapped on the windowed door seconds before he opened it.
It was his station after all; I guess he didn't need to wait for an ‘Enter'.
As he walked in, all three guys looked up at him, and then studied me. Long appraising looks. I watched them look me up and down as if they were undressing me with their eyes.
"Egh ehm, this is Ariana Reynolds, better known as the reaper to you guys,” the chief said motioning in my direction, “Miss Reynolds these are Lieutenants; Martinez, Shelton, and Jones.” He introduced us by pointing fingers at each of the three men.
"Miss Reynolds these lieutenants are starting up a brand new squad to deal strictly with vampires. I thought that you could help them find these rogue vampires and if you do a good job, we may be able to offer you a job. Jones is in charge of the team so please take your directive from him.” When the chief finished his small speech, he turned to leave but I stopped him. There was no way I was gonna take directive from these rookies on how to catch vampires.
"Excuse me chief, it was my understanding that your department would be working with me on this, not the other way around. As I see it, I don't need you or them. I already have a court order to seek and destroy. So if you don't mind, it might be safer for your men to sit this one out and start with something a little less dangerous.” I smiled with smugness at the protests of the three men. I lost my smile when Chief Aragon turned his blood shot eyes towards me. I could actually see the blood vessels popping out of his neck.
I bet he was seeing red. I grinned at the thought.
"Of all the asinine, fucked up things for a woman to say that heads the top of my list. You are out of control. You will work with my men, and as for the job offer, I never want to see you in my building after you guys solve this case. Now...” his voice got a note higher. He continued his onslaught of my attitude, but I stopped listening and stared at him dispassionately until he finished.
All three lieutenants were snickering in the background. When he finished, he left the room, I assumed that he thought by bitching me out he had somehow changed my attitude, oh how little he knew me.
I turned to face the three men, they stopped snickering as they noticed my eyes, and Shelton got up and left the room.
Point for me.
Looking at Martinez and Jones, I sized them up. Martinez was a little too muscle bound for my tastes and as I slowly looked him over, I realized that he was short. Even though he was sitting down on the couch, I could tell I was taller than he was. I tried to meet his gaze but he dropped his head and avoided making eye contact, another point for me.
Finally, I let my gaze rest on Jones. He was tall and lean, yet still muscle bound. His snug jeans outlined well-muscled legs. His T-shirt let me glimpse his upper body. I could tell he had an eight pack.
An eight pack is better than a six-pack, very well defined, as if Jones worked out regularly.
What a hot body, and his face wasn't bad to look at either. His broad nose seemed to fit his tanned face well. His eyes were set wide apart and colored the most remarkable hazel.
The kind of eyes you could lose yourself in.
Of the three lieutenants, Jones was the only one who would meet my gaze. As we let our gazes lock, he didn't even flinch. He stared at my dead eyes and let all the emotion bleed away from his. His green and brown eyes lost all emotion and I could tell that they mirrored my own.
Smiling at Lieutenant Jones, I knew the smile didn't reach my eyes but I didn't care.
He mirrored my smile, and I couldn't help but grin, so much for being the big bad reaper. I started to chuckle because the situation was so ridiculous.
He broke eye contact. I was elated thinking our pissing contest was over. “Hah!” I burst out and got a dirty look from Jones. I had gotten all three to look away, even though it didn't count with Jones, I was not about to admit it to him.
I walked over to Jones first, I stuck out my hand and waited for him to take it. I raised an eyebrow, and watched him contemplate my hand. He shook it with practiced ease. I said, “Nice to meet you Jones, please call me Ariana."
I glanced at Martinez and nodded to him, “You too Martinez. Looks like I scared Shelton off though, so I will introduce myself later."
"Call me Pete,” Jones said, “now lets get down to business. I have here all the autopsy pictures as-well-as the crime scene photos. Would you mind looking them over and giving us your input. This is our first assignment and we are eager to solve these crimes. We think that there were at least three separate vampires in these attacks. Tonight we will be rounding up an Ian Lightfoot to see what he has to tell us about which of his vamps did this."
"I don't think it was Ian, he has a tight control on his Kiss. I think we have visitors from another Kiss, and they did not ask Ian his permission to hunt in his territory. It is gonna be a race with our vampires to see who solves the case first. Ian is very insistent that we leave it to him. Since I have an execution warrant for the rogue vamps, I am at an uncertain truce to share info.” I paused and eyed each of the men in front of me before I continued, “Not that he will get all, I gather, I only get the paycheck if I kill them, so I will use what info he gives me to try and get to these vamps first. Now, I have some questions about the condition of the victims and I am starving, so do we order Chinese or pizza?” I raised an eyebrow in question. Without waiting for an answer, I started to look o
ver the pictures and ask pointed questions about each photo.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Working throughout most of the day, we discovered some disturbing news. It seemed to them that instead of dealing with three rogue vamps, we would be looking for eight.
I got up and stretched, one arm high above me the other hand trying to rub the bleariness from my eyes. A large yawn escaped me, Pete laughed aloud, and Martinez let out a small snort.
"It really kind of pisses me off that Shelton didn't find it necessary to help in this exciting fun.” I commented to nobody in particular as I grabbed a slice of cold pizza and took a bite. “Where the fuck is he anyway?"
"Hell if we know.” Martinez said as he too stretched the kinks out of his muscles.
Pete glanced up at the clock mounted on the wall, sighed “I think we can call it a day, I sent Shelton to do some running around, gather information and talk to witnesses, not that there are any, but it is the stuff he is good at. This would have driven him insane.” He said to me. “I think we can leave off until tomorrow. You two get some sleep okay?” he barked the last as more of an order than a question.
I waved goodbye to both the men and left the stuffy office with half a slice of pizza in my hand. I decided to go home and shower before I went to Wolf's Den.
On the drive home, I began to think of Ian again. The day was empty of all thoughts of him as a friend and now something more, but as soon as I left the police station and started the twenty-minute drive home, my mind conjured up thoughts of him.
A sexy body with images of tattoos swam through my head. As I waited for the streetlight to turn green, all I could see was turquoise eyes and tribal tattoos.
A small chuckle started in the back of my head and increased as I realized who it was.
"You fucking prick, get out of my head.” I told him. He laughed even louder.
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