by C. L. Quinn
She wanted him to know she fed, to feel the sexual surge, to feel it with her.
He couldn’t, of course, he was an unknown, not someone she could trust with her secret.
Not yet, she thought. The idea brought her joy that the future might be interesting with this man.
“No, I’m sorry, Jack, but you have to go.”
Nodding, he slid off the bed, pulled his clothes on almost as if the house were on fire, then turned to her as she knelt on the bed.
His eyes lingered over her, naked, the way he always wanted to remember her. There was every chance he’d never see her again. It didn’t stop him from asking.
“Can I see you again?”
His heart skipped when she didn’t answer, when she rose and walked to the window to look at the sky just beginning to lighten.
Turning back, her face unreadable, she nodded.
“I would like that. When that sky turns dark, you may come to me, anytime after the sun drops.”
“I will. Ife, this has been a perfect night, thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Jack. Oh, and Jack. Bring something delicious to eat. And don’t be stingy, I have an enormous appetite.”
“I’ll do that. It might not be tonight. I’m pretty sure I’ll have to work.”
“It doesn’t matter when. I know you’ll be back.”
Moving close, he glanced at the glowing sky where colors bled across the canopy from the east.
“Soon, then.”
A deep kiss, a last glance, and he hurried down the balcony steps, glancing back to see her close the white shutters. A low rumble came from the house that didn’t make sense, but everything looked okay.
Wow, he kept thinking as he walked down the beach to the lookout where he’d parked. What a night! What a woman! Sex beyond anything he could describe. He needed to give Sanquinetta a very nice thank you gift.
As he approached the steps that led up to the lookout, he glanced toward the stone wall. Damn, he hoped his bike was still there.
Cresting the top of the ridge, he winced, thankful, that the bike sat where he left it. Specially designed with weapons and left abandoned at the lookout, the jetbike had been costly, his father would have kicked his ass if it had been stolen.
Luckily, this stretch of road was rarely used anymore except for tourists who wanted to experience the ocean the old-fashioned way. Between lift cars and the hyperloop, traffic was usually light, and at night, nearly non-existent.
Seated on the bike, he remembered he’d told Ife that he thought she was a dream. “I hope you aren’t, because otherwise, I don’t think I want to wake up.”
Time to work.
Ife rolled onto her stomach, staring into the darkness, then onto her back, restless. The vampire imperative to sleep during daylight hours wasn’t helping her to sleep. She knew why. It wasn’t a mystery.
His scent still lingered in her bed, her mind and empathic skill able to recreate their moments together in this bed where the sheet still showed his impression before she’d gone lights out.
What she couldn’t get off her mind was the closeness they’d developed so soon. The feel of him inside her, grazing her, exciting her, buried deep; she’d never felt anything more perfect. But it was his simple touch that was blowing her away.
Everywhere he touched her, even on her wrist, her knee, her cheek, was erotic. While they’d fucked…made love?...they’d laughed and touched and kissed.
She pushed upright and asked the lights to come up 10 percent. Had it been just a fuck to him?
She didn’t think so. Certain that he’d been there with her all the way, even if he didn’t realize it, she knew one other thing.
She wasn’t finished with him.
Three
For two days, the entire staff at HQ had been scanning vid feeds, doing surveillance, then, at night, on foot recons through the city where Barkley had first found the vampire cadre, to end up with no leads at all.
With little sleep, Jack headed home and crashed, rest so welcome, so needed, he hadn’t even showered or undressed. He’d just melted into his sheets and didn’t wake until close to dusk.
After a much-needed shower, he stood on his balcony, naked, watching the light change over the sea. He still faced all his challenges, still had to find that next group of murderous vamps, had to kill when necessary, and deal with whatever the fuck his little brother was into. But tonight, it seemed like it was manageable.
He hadn’t seen her in two days, but he still felt a weird sense of euphoria. What the hell was it? How could one night of sex with a woman, no matter how beautiful, transform a lifelong sense of hopelessness? While he didn’t begin to understand, he wasn’t going to question it. Like San said, take the win.
Now, though, reality beckoned. Time to go to work to make sure this part of the country was safe for people to go about their ordinary lives without any clue about the unknown threats that waited in the dark. While he’d never have a family, children, build an ordinary life, and in spite of her declaration, he didn’t think San would either, he had to be there to save the unsuspecting. It was ingrained in every hunter born to this life; the passion to protect, the training, the need, even, to fight the bad guys and win.
Sanquinetta was one of the best he’d ever worked with, and the vison of her making dinner for a husband and a kid, putting out kibble for a puppy, and then sitting down to watch vids before going to bed and getting up to do it all over again the next day…seemed impossible. More like she’d be stalking the supermarket with a sword watching for fangs. In spite of that, he hoped she made it out. Sanquinetta with a knitting needle instead of a dagger would be a world worth seeing.
The chirping of his fone interrupted his Zen moment. Glancing at the screen, he saw it was Stacey.
“Yeah?”
“Ready to ride? Barkley got a lead on the final five today. Plato’s back, too. They’re heading out on recon for intel. No expectation for interception tonight.”
“I’m on my way.”
Dressed, geared up, he made a conscious effort to leave his distraction with Ife behind.
“Shit, Plato, did you get even bigger while you were gone?”
Jack punched his buddy as he rolled into HQ’s situation room.
Plato, often described as “big as a house,” punched Jack back.
Jack feinted a fatal injury to his arm, smiling. Actually, it hurt like a motherfucker, but he wasn’t going to let the rest of the group know he couldn’t take a punch. Plato’s biceps were twice his, and that was saying a lot, since Jack knew his own were quite impressive.
Ben hopped onto a tabletop to rub Plato’s bald head.
“Here, kitty, kitty.”
Half again Ben’s height, Plato yanked him off the table like a toy, hanging him over his shoulder. “A pussycat, I ain’t. Just ask the vamps I just smoked in Vancouver.”
Clicking against the wood floor drew their attention to the door as Sanquinetta hurried in. “Plato, my love, great to see you. Now, would you put down my hunter and we can get to work?”
Plato’s smile went supernova. Everyone knew he had been passionately in love with the gorgeous half black, half Latina huntress since she’d joined their team three years ago.
While she noticed the brilliant smile, Sanquinetta gave him a kind, measured one. Late one night on a gig in South Carolina, she’d admitted to Jack that, while she found the massive Plato intriguing, sexy, his size scared the hell out of her.
“I just think he’d split a woman apart, you know?” she’d admitted, talkative that night, drunk off her ass as Jack was. “I mean, you can see the size of his hammer when he wears those snug sweats when we work out. My lady parts get both wet and freaked out at the same time. I think I’m gonna stay away. Besides, you know I don’t like fucking my own team members. It never goes well.”
Now, her eyes lingered over Plato’s form before she turned to face Barkley. “Ok, Barker. Bark. This is your collar, but I’m setting up
initial surveillance of the remaining five. We can assume that they may have some clue what happened to their companions and if so, they’ll be pissed. We tread lightly. Now, where have you seen them to date?”
“Originally, just north of Florence. Since we smoked the first three, I’ve only seen them once, all together, and that was when they were moving away from me at vampspeed. They didn’t seem to care who saw them.”
“Bad news. So if they’re still in town, we gotta find them. Means that, if they do suspect hunters, they aren’t afraid of us. Means top level prep at all times. Watch your backs, watch your friend’s back, weapons easily accessible without delay. Okay. We know finding a lair isn’t easy, we know tracking them is a bitch, and we know we don’t have any choice.”
She looked back up at Plato. “You, as usual, need to stay in the background.”
“Can’t miss that big white noggin,” Ben chided.
“Won’t be a problem. Plato, catch this.” Sanquinetta threw a brown bag to him, which he easily caught.
“What is it?”
“Take a look.”
Plato pulled the bag open to look inside and his eyes shot back to hers. “Really?”
“Really. Take it out and try it on.”
Slowly, with two fingers, as if the item was either distasteful or dangerous, Plato pulled something long and black from the bag.
The other hunters fought to keep their laughs under control.
Plato held it high, turning it around. “Dreads?”
“I think it’ll give you character. Picked it out myself, so put it on. While I was working with Bullet, we talked about our teams and he told me that he’d heard some vampires might know you by sight. This should help, at least a little, to get you some time before any might make you. Come, let’s see it.”
After a few seconds of hesitation, then even longer seconds figuring out how to do it, he fitted the wig over his large bare pate and looked up, his expression sheepish.
“How’s it look?”
Faces stoic, Jack, Ben, Barkley, and a newer young hunter who went by Jimbo, all waited for someone else to answer.
Abruptly, Jack coughed out, “Good. You look good.”
Sanquinetta moved in to give one of the braids a tug.
“He looks fine. Different. If we keep you seated, with this new look, people might not notice you. Vampires, I mean.”
Groaning, Plato headed to the lone mirror in the room and crouched down to see why his friends were speechless. He’d expected he’d look like a dope, but after considering his appearance, from side to side, with a full head of hair and long dreadlocks, he grinned.
“Yeah, I do look good. Thanks, San.” Glancing at Jack and the others, he nodded. “No kidding. I like it.”
Wanting to support him after their shocked stares, they all chimed in at once.
“Oh, sure, you’re rocking it.”
“Who doesn’t like hair?”
“Chick magnet.”
“We should all get one.”
Sanquinetta rolled her eyes. “You’re a bunch of ten-year-olds. Okay, strategy. Five is a lot. Five that likely know we’re coming for them? Much more dangerous than a lot. We’re going to break into teams of two to check out the haunts north of town. Blend in of course, relax, eat, drink, be merry but wary. Look, I know every one of you are hot dogs, so when I tell you not to engage, in any way, with these vamps without full team back-up, I am so not fucking around. You all know I have a touch of the supernatural myself, and I feel some real bad mojo from this group of fangs. So if you find them, contact me and we’ll converge. No one goes out on their own on this one, even for simple recon. I gotta hear the promise. Jack?”
“Yes, mistress of the dark.”
Sanquinetta appeared to approve of that. “Everyone else?”
Slowly, the promises came as weapons were chosen and dispensed.
Sidling next to Jack, Sanquinetta noticed he was smiling as he packed up extra clips.
“You look like you got properly laid since I saw you last.”
The smile widened and it almost took her breath away. She liked Jack, more than liked him, but she really did believe that you don’t shit where you eat. He was her type of man, from the top of that thick unruly hair to those heavily muscled legs that she felt certain would feel nice entangled with hers. She wasn’t sure how she felt about his next statement.
“And I have you to thank.”
“Ah, the ghost on the beach.”
“Yes, ma’am. Worth every awkward moment that I might not have had the courage to try without you urging me.”
“Huh. Well, she slept with you, so, no accounting for taste.”
“She slept with me, so I’m not going to question why. You should see her, San. I swear to heavens she could be an angel. Pure white hair softer than anything you’ve ever felt, eyes that can see into your soul, a body built to trap a man for eternity. She’s beyond beautiful. Honestly, I really don’t get what she saw in this hacked-up broke down penny-jar mercenary.”
“You’re always so hard on yourself. Did you make her come?”
Jack’s smile returned. “Mission accomplished, ma’am. More than once.”
“You’re all male, Jack. Hard, rugged, and you know how to do your job. She’s a lucky girl.”
Stepping back, Sanquinetta clapped her hands.
“Okay. Barkley, you and Plato. Jack, you and Ben. I’ll go with Jimbo. Here’s a list of the clubs they’re most likely to visit and the one you’ll each be assigned to. Remember, coms on, no one handles anything until I arrive on scene with the whole team. Bad vibes with us on this one. Go, and may the devil’s boots creak.”
Assigned to a club called B.B.’s Boozetown, Ben led his brother through the doorway into the darkened interior.
“Damn, what did we do to piss off our warrior queen? This place makes dive shitholes look good.”
“I’d say she thinks this is one of the most likely for them to show up.”
“Ah, so she sent her best here.”
“Just a guess.”
Jack grabbed a table in the corner with a good view of the dingy room. “Take a seat. I’ll go get us some drinks. Local flavor or national?”
“Local. Dark beer. Get me a pitcher.”
“Ben…”
“Jack.” Ben stopped his brother with a hard stare. “Get me the beer. I’m not going to overdo it.”
“A pitcher’s too much.”
“It’s set dressing, asshole. Forget it. You hold the table, I’ll go.”
Ben was up and gone before Jack could refuse. His eyes on his brother’s rigid back, Jack admitted he had pushed it. Ben was his brother, and while he would always feel responsible for him, Ben was twenty nine this year. Even his eight years on Ben didn’t give Jack the right to try to control his life.
Ten minutes passed while Ben waited to get his pitcher of beer and a lame-ass bourbon for Jack. He searched the room carefully, as if he was scoping for a woman, but actually searched for their targets. No one that fit the descriptions Barkley supplied. When his eyes landed on his brother, he stayed there.
Bro, he thought, you’d better stay off me or we’re gonna have a bad moment.
He wasn’t ready to talk to anyone about his life right now. It was his fucking life; Elias and Jack weren’t a part of this. Yeah, yeah, while he knew that Jack wanted to protect him, they both knew that sometimes, it’s not possible.
He guessed there needed to be an apology. Carrying two empty mugs and a full glass of whisky, Ben lowered them to the table, glancing up to catch Jack’s expression.
“They’re bringing the pitcher. Jack, sorry I’ve been so closed up lately. You’re just playing big brother, I know that, but you gotta let me figure shit out for myself. For fuck’s sake, I’m nearly thirty! You gotta trust me.”
Nodding, Jack reached for the glass of whisky.
“You’re right. You’re right, I’ve been a dick. I do trust you, bro, I do. Dad pounded into me
my responsibility to take care of you. It’s part of me, to look out for you. I haven’t managed it too well lately. So, okay, truce, I’ll stay off your back as long as you promise me that if you need me, if you get into trouble, you’ll tell me.”
“That I can promise.” The beer arrived and Ben poured both mugs full.
Jack held up his whisky to toast Ben’s mug of beer.
“To set dressing.”
“To set dressing. No fangs to impress, though, as far as I can see.”
Reaching for the untouched mug of beer, Jack downed a healthy gulp. “Not bad.”
“Local beers are one of my favorite parts of traveling. I especially like those that don’t use any of the new lab-generated flavor capsules.”
“Old-time naturals, eh?”
“The diversity in flavor is remarkable. Remember when Dad and I went to Hazard, Kentucky a few years ago? Man, Kentucky is the mecca for moonshine and beer breweries. Neither one of us stayed completely sober a lot of the time, and when we finished, when we got the fangs, did I tell you? We spent the next three days bombed.” Taking another sip of his beer, Ben paused. “That’s the closest we’ve ever been. Nothing like that since either.”
“Dad does life and fighting in his own unique way. Don’t try to figure him out, you’ll just fry your brain.”
Jack paused before he caught his brother’s attention again. “Your business is your business, Ben, but don’t ever cut me out. We’re blood, and blood is forever.”
“I agree. I’ll always be grateful that Dad stole me and brought me home.”
“Even though it made you a vampire hunter?”
“Especially though. Also…” Ben rolled his eyes. “I got an awesome brother out of it.”
“Ditto, dude.” Jack lifted his eyes from the table and Ben, shared feelings heartfelt but uncomfortable. Just entering the bar, two men turned sharply and headed to the rear of the room.