by Dannika Dark
I reached in the sack and pulled out a giant hamburger. “Hello, darling.” My mouth watered instantly.
“It’s the Angus burger,” he said absently. “I recall you mentioning something about that.”
“I can’t see you over there. Come sit next to me. I won’t bite.” I unwrapped the burger and set it on my lap. To avoid crumbs, I dumped the onion rings into the empty paper sack. “Why do they always forget the napkins?”
Christian rounded the bed and fluffed the flat pillow to my left before he took a seat, legs straight and ankles crossed. “So whatcha reading?”
I lifted the diary and set it in his lap. “The life and times of Penny Burns. She was an interesting person. I’ve confirmed she was a Mage; it’s all in there.”
“That’s what Wyatt says. He did a background check, and her name came up in the Mageri records.”
Christian thumbed through a few pages while I bit into my burger, and it was the most delicious burger I’d had in ages. The tomatoes seemed more flavorful than ever, the meat succulent, and it made me wonder if drinking Christian’s blood had awakened dormant taste buds.
“She was in love with the guy who made her,” I said around a mouthful of burger. “It’s so romantic I almost don’t want to believe it.”
“Nor should you. Just look how it ended. Where is he now? Maybe that’s the killer we’re looking for.”
I licked my finger and grabbed an onion ring. “He died. They were together for twenty years before these guys showed up and cut off his head. It doesn’t mention what the reason was, but he made Penny escape on her horse. Maybe those guys are the ones who killed her.”
“Doubtful. It sounds like it was him they were after. Did you read this bit here?”
I glanced over. “No. I hadn’t gotten that far yet. Don’t spoil the ending.”
He set down the book. “Everyone dies in the end.”
Crumbs from the onion ring scattered into the wrapper on my lap. “Remind me never to see a movie with you. It sounds like Lachlan was the reason she never wanted to love again. She believed he was her destiny and didn’t think another man would ever be able to fill his shoes.”
Christian’s nose twitched again, and he reached for an onion ring. “Sounds like he had big feet.”
I shoved the rest of the burger into my mouth and held up one finger for him to wait.
“Jaysus wept. If I’d known you were that hungry, I would have bought the whole heifer.” He crunched into his onion ring and studied the inside. “I called Viktor and filled him in on all the details.”
“What about Spoon Man?” I said with a mouthful of food.
He dusted off his fingers. “I left out a few highlights from our trip. Would you like me to call him back and tell him you were going to get spooned before we set a dead body on fire?”
I chuckled and licked mayo off my thumb. “Please don’t.”
“Do you mind telling me why your bathroom door is off the hinges?”
I wadded up the empty wrapper and tossed it on the nightstand. “So it seems that Vampire blood has this little side effect.”
His chewing slowed, and he leaned up. “Are you saying that my blood gave you Vampire strength?”
I turned over and lay on my left side, facing him. “I guess I’m not as inadequate as you thought.”
“Squeeze my hand.”
I did as he asked. I partly expected to hear the sound of snapping bones beneath my grip, but nothing happened.
“It doesn’t seem to last. But your grip is strong, to be sure.”
I let go. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t plan on drinking from a Vampire again.”
“Don’t be daft, woman.”
“You said yourself that Vampires shouldn’t drink from each other.” I curled my legs and yawned, completely sated by the hot food in my belly.
“Aye, but if you’re ever captured by a Vampire, how will you escape if you’re unarmed?”
“I’m a Mage. I can flash out of his grasp.”
He reached out and brushed his thumb against my mouth, wiping away a bit of mayo. Then he put that thumb in his mouth and sucked on it. “You’re also a Vampire. If you weren’t so bullheaded, you might actually see it as a blessing and not a curse.”
“Yes, but if I drink from a Vampire in order to fight him, he might have control over me. You said yourself there’s no way to know the effect it’ll have.”
His lip twitched. “You listen to every word I say, don’t you? Sometimes I think I’m wasting my breath. In moments of life and death, you’re sometimes forced to take risks. I’d rather you not drink from another Vampire, but if it’s the last measure that might save your life, then don’t be obstinate.” He leaned back and laced his fingers across his stomach.
The only thing I heard in that explanation was Christian admitting that he didn’t want me to drink from another Vampire. Something about that remark felt possessive, and I wondered if we’d crossed a line that partners shouldn’t cross. I’d felt a connection between us since joining Keystone. The last thing I needed was to nurture feelings for a man who wanted nothing more from women than sex. Especially when that man was my partner.
I needed to get a grip on this situation.
While he nibbled on another onion ring, I decided it was best to establish boundaries, so I reached for the phone. Even though Detective Glass had written his number on a napkin, I had it memorized. I felt quite silly for doing so, but a man hadn’t asked me out on a date in a long time.
My heart quickened when I heard the first ring.
“Hello?”
A million clever responses went through my head, but all I could say was, “Hi. It’s, um… it’s Raven.”
“I didn’t recognize the number. How are you, Miss Black?”
“Good,” I replied, noticing the crunching behind me had stopped. “I thought maybe I’d take you up on your offer.”
“Sounds like a plan. Tomorrow evening?”
That was short notice. Hopefully our flight would arrive in time and Viktor wouldn’t spend hours interrogating us. “Sounds good.”
Christian suddenly snuggled up behind me. “Hurry up, will ya? You’re hogging all the covers.”
Glass coughed. “Who was that?”
“No one,” I said, elbowing Christian. “Just my partner.”
“The Vamp?” he asked, a hint of irritation in his tone.
“So how does eight o’clock work for you?”
“I think I can pencil it in,” he said, a smile in his voice. “See you then, Miss Black.”
I hung up and rolled over. Crap. Now I was going to have to act like a girl and worry about what to wear.
Christian folded up the paper sack into a neat square and leaned over me to toss it into the wastebasket. “Well, if you’re going to go out with a Chitah, maybe I should warn you that their love bites can kill.”
“So can mine.”
“You should stick to your own kind.”
I snorted and rolled over to face him. “And what kind is that? I’m two halves of a whole. And what do you have against Chitahs anyhow?”
Christian scooted down so he was lying on his back. “They’re a nuisance.”
“Maybe you should tell that to Claude.”
“He’s different. He’s a hairdresser.”
I sighed. “Don’t ruin this for me, okay? I haven’t spent much time in the dating pool, so I forgot how to swim.”
“Why waste your time with such archaic traditions? And I’d like to know why it is that you won’t even date your own kind.”
“Because my maker didn’t want me.”
Thunderstruck silence followed, and Christian turned on his side to face me—his eyes fixed on mine. “Go on.”
I hesitated. I’d always been one to speak my mind, but anything attached to my emotions I kept guarded. Maybe I was still drunk on Christian’s blood, or maybe it was the fact that despite our quarrel, he’d still come back and brought me dinner, but someth
ing made me want to open up to him—to trust him.
So I began.
“He approached me in a bar and complimented my eyes. Normally that’s a pickup line I ignore, but he was charismatic and interesting—like no one I’d ever met before. We talked for hours, and I don’t mean casual talk. It was the kind of conversation you have with someone when you’re baring your soul. In retrospect, maybe he charmed me to tell him my life story, but I remember him being so easy to talk to. He didn’t even try to make out with me. We found a quiet spot in the back, and then he told me about Vampires.”
“And you believed him?”
“No. But after he showed me his fangs and then retracted them, I began taking him seriously. I guess after all that alcohol, I wanted to believe that maybe I was destined for something else. He said Vampires didn’t drink blood to survive and convinced me they weren’t evil. It was so impulsive,” I said, my thoughts drifting.
“You’re telling me he turned you that very night?” Christian’s lips thinned.
“He said he was lonely and wanted a companion—someone he could talk to and be easy with, the way we were together. We went out to his car, and he turned me. Not all the way, though. I don’t think we completely finished the process. He said my death had to look real so nobody would come looking for me. He was afraid my father would file a police report and my picture would be stapled to every telephone pole in the city. He brought me to the brink of death, and when I woke up, he was gone. I never saw him again.”
Christian’s brows arched. “Is that all? I thought there was more to the story.”
I gave him an oblique look. “There’s always more to the story.”
“So that’s why you’ve turned into the praying mantis who devours her lovers? Because you were abandoned? I’m not going to lie to you—I think your maker was a gobshite for leaving you behind, but I don’t understand the drama. I thought he might have tied you to a whipping post and made you his pet. But it doesn’t sound as bad as all that. That’s not a good enough reason to turn your back on your kind.”
“Why? He turned his back on me.” I rolled away and stared up at the ceiling. “He showed me how committed Vampires really are—how trustworthy. He ruined my life, Christian. Sorry if I don’t have any love for my fangdaddy, but it’s not without good reason.”
When he didn’t come back with an argument, I turned to look at him. He had a straight nose, and I could see the lines in his forehead from all the brow raising he liked to do.
“Thanks for saving me back there,” he said quietly.
Now my brows rose in surprise. “I thought it was the other way around?”
“Archers aren’t common in the city, so I wasn’t expecting crossbows in the suburbs. If it weren’t for your quick thinking, I’d be the one burning in that house.”
I smiled. “And I’d have to change my name to One Eye.”
He chuckled and tucked his arm beneath his head. “You have a wicked sense of humor.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment coming from you, Mr. Poe.” I reached down and lifted the diary, locating the spot where I’d left off. “She said she loved him when she was seventeen, but it was years before they got together.”
“Why the long wait? Life was short for humans in those days. You could die from a splinter.”
I turned the page, following the elegant flow of handwriting. “He told her he knew the girl, but he wanted to meet the woman she’d someday become. It’s tragic.”
Christian settled on his back and laced his fingers together across his stomach. “We all have tragic stories.”
“Is that why you mate instead of date? Did someone break your heart?”
Christian swung his legs over the edge of the bed and strode toward the door.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” I quickly said. “I was just making conversation.”
Christian glimpsed himself in the mirror as he passed it and stopped. He craned his neck to the side to get a better look at his shiny new tattoo. “You really want to win this bet, don’t you?”
I smiled at him over my shoulder. “Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder.”
“It also makes the cock grow harder.”
“I’m sure you’ll find a new hobby to keep you distracted. Otherwise, you’ll have to listen to my opinions on every woman you have sex with for the rest of our working career.”
He straightened his shirt with a tug. “Careful with that sharp tongue, or I just might spoon you.”
Regardless of who won the bet, I had a feeling I was going to be hearing spoon jokes for a long time to come.
Chapter 15
We had an uneventful plane ride back to Cognito. Christian claimed the window seat so he could close the shade and pretend to nap. Next time, I was going to make sure I got on the plane first.
When we arrived at the mansion, Gem greeted me at the door with a growing smile. “What happened to you?”
I set my bag by the winged statue and looked down to see if I had a bloodstain anywhere. “What do you mean?”
She chewed on her nail and looked me over. “I don’t know. You just seem a little too refreshed for someone who just spent two days in the dreariest state in the nation. You have a glow.”
Christian breezed by and shut the door behind him. “She was up late last night with a vintage red.”
I cut him an icy glare, tempted to rip away the long red scarf he had wrapped around his neck to cover his tattoo.
Gem weaved around him on her roller skates.
I didn’t like the way the statue beside me was aiming his sword at my chest, so I pulled the laptop out of my bag and headed upstairs. “Is Wyatt home?”
“Wait, I’ll come with you.”
I looked over my shoulder as she held the wide banister, climbing one step at a time on the toe stop of her skates.
“Did I miss anything exciting?” I asked.
“Wyatt hasn’t been talking to any ghosts lately; that’s newsworthy. Claude’s been working on another case, so he’s been busy with a client,” she said, an audible pout in her voice. “I’m glad I finally have someone to talk to. Why don’t we have a sleepover tonight and I’ll show you my room?”
I hadn’t been in anyone’s bedroom aside from Christian’s. Stepping inside someone’s private domain was an invitation for them to come into mine, and people need personal space. That was why we socialized in Wyatt’s room or the game rooms. However, I could sense Gem’s eagerness to have fun, and I liked her. Gem was a good-hearted girl with a lot of spirit. She had a knack for bringing out the kid in me, and it was refreshing to be around someone that genuine.
“I can’t tonight,” I said. “I have a date.”
A hurried sound of rubber pounding against the stone floor closed in on me from behind as she caught up and matched my pace. “Are you serious?”
“Detective Glass will be coming by to pick me up.”
When we reached the second floor, she skated beside me. “Where’s he taking you?”
“I have no earthly idea.”
She maneuvered in front of me and began skating backward. “You better wear a dress just in case. And I don’t mean that slutty one you love so much.”
I snorted. “What’s wrong with my lucky black dress?”
Her arms floated, making her look like a fairy as the air ruffled her violet locks in front of her face. “It’s not… romantic.”
“You’re starting to make me nervous. If he wants to go out with me, then he needs to appreciate the total package.”
She dropped her arms to her sides. “How would you feel if he showed up in Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt? And exactly what makes that dress so lucky?”
I didn’t bother answering. That dress was entrapment—luring men to their inevitable death. Maybe that wasn’t the best impression to make on a first date.
I did a double take when I walked by a recessed wall and saw Niko sitting in a chair, listening to music from a tiny portable
music player. His eyes were closed, but he must have sensed our energy passing by and lifted his hand in a wave.
“Niko?”
“Shhh,” Gem said, frantically waving me forward.
I continued walking until he was out of sight. “Why’s he wearing a pink shirt?”
Niko had an all-black wardrobe, and when I’d asked him about it, he explained it was easier for him to get dressed without mismatching colors.
Gem gave me an impish grin and stumbled over a crevice in the floor, almost losing her balance. “Niko thinks all his shirts are black. He refuses to wear color, so I snuck two shirts in there to brighten up his wardrobe. Nobody says anything because we all get a kick out of it.”
“What’s the other shirt?”
“A rainbow, but he never accidentally puts that one on. It’s always fun when he wears the pink one and we try to get him out of the house. Too bad you were gone this morning. Wyatt and I took him out for donuts.”
We reached Wyatt’s game room, and Gem spun around in a circle before making a dramatic entrance. “Delivery girl!”
Wyatt was sitting in one of the beanbag chairs, legs spread, playing a video game.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Grand Theft Auto.”
“Do you have solitaire on there?”
Wyatt glared over the beanbag. “Seriously? What century did you pop out of?” His eyes skated down. “Is that what I think it is?”
I held up the laptop. “Claude isn’t the only one in this house with magic fingers.”
He dropped his game controller and excitedly got up. “Give it to the master.”
Wyatt took the laptop and gently set it on his desk. He dusted a few potato chip crumbs off his leather chair before sitting down and switching on the computer. “The blasted battery’s dead.” He turned the laptop around and studied the ports. Then he rolled all the way to the left, opened a drawer, pulled out a cord, and rolled back to the right. Watching him work was like going to a geek ballet.
Gem glided forward and backward on her skates, her legs widening and then closing.