by Powell, C. G. ; Lavender, Cait; Rayns, Lisa; Hardin, Olivia; Nelson, Stephanie; Schulte, Liz
“Do you know him?” I asked Ambrose.
He shook his head. “Look, if you protect me, I’ll tell you what I know. But not here, and it has to be alone.”
Before I could agree a spray of blood, skull, and brain splattered across my face and chest. Everything happened in slow motion. Ambrose dropped to the ground, completely slack, blood and grey matter oozing from his head. The professor dropped his case and ran for the hills. I looked from Ambrose to the man running to the direction the shot came from. Before I could unplant my feet and chase down the running man, a hand circled my waist and slammed me into the ground behind the Bean. Thomas lay on top of me, scanning the area.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he hissed.
“Get off of me! He’s getting away.”
“Let him go. You may be tough, but you won’t survive a gunshot wound to the head—not much would.” He continued to effortlessly pin me to the ground despite my struggles, which pissed me off.
“This is our only lead.” I hissed at him.
“We’ll find a new one.” He took my hand and yanked me to my feet in a blink. He half carried, half shoved me back to the car and peeled out of the parking lot.
“What in the hell? Who shot Ambrose? Why did you stop me, damn it?” My thoughts spun like a top flinging out questions as it went.
“I don’t know. After the gunshot I ran to you as fast as I could.”
“But I was turning him over. Why would they kill him?”
“Don’t you listen to me? To cover up what’s happening. They couldn’t put Ambrose on trial. What if he was found innocent? What if people starting looking past the surface? You have no idea who you are dealing with.”
I wiped my hand across my face, smearing the blood more than wiping it off. I stared out the window replaying the scene over and over again in my mind. Ambrose’s limp body falling to the ground like a rag and me not doing a damn thing about it. Where did everything go so wrong? My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was Sy, but I didn’t feel like talking to anyone right now. I held down end until the phone shut off.
“What are you thinking?” Thomas asked, looking at me instead of watching the road while driving my car.
“Eyes on the road,” I grumbled. I didn’t want to talk. I wanted to find these bastards and make them regret the day they ever crossed my path.
“You look furious.”
“I am furious.” I was going to shred those gutless cowards. Ambrose and I may not have been friends, but he was under my protection until I turned him over—I failed him.
“Why do you care? He’s just a vampire.” Thomas’ voice was bitter and filled with resentment, which pissed me off more.
I visualized punching him in face, taking out my frustration on this living, not breathing creature. How dare he accuse me of being prejudice against vampires? I was the only one helping, wasn’t I? I could’ve turned Ambrose over last night, no fuss no muss, and washed my hands of all of this. No good ever came from being around vampires. Filthy parasites.
When he parked outside of the motel room, I jumped out of the car and slammed the door. Murderous intentions stormed my mind as I marched into the room slamming that door too. A moment later he charged in behind me.
“What? So now you’re mad at me? Why?”
“Don’t talk to me.”
He ignored my warning and kept after me. “I just call it like I see it, Femi. You don’t trust us any more than the rest of them.”
“Shut. Up.”
“What’s one more innocent, dead vampire?”
That was the last straw. I flew at him, claws out and rage clouding my vision. I wanted to hurt someone, anyone. My nails sliced through his indigo cotton shirt as his matching eyes noticeably darkened. He caught my next swing and held my wrist.
“Femi, calm—” He didn’t get to finish his feeble attempt at placating me. My left fist connected with his jaw with a sickening crack. He dropped my right arm and took a couple steps back. “Damn it!”
“You’ve got a lot of opinions, Thomas, but you don’t know anything. I suggest you keep your mouth shut before I make it so it has to be wired closed.” I turned on my heel and stalked to the bathroom. The shower ran over me, clothes and all. The water swirling down the drain was pink with Ambrose’s blood. The steam soothed my nerves and calmed my mind, making me feel bad about punching Thomas. He had just lost a friend, and I shouldn’t have taken out my temper on him. I hated apologizing.
With all my clothes soaking wet, I walked back into the room with just a towel. Thomas was lying on the bed holding his jaw and staring at the ceiling. I cleared my throat, but he didn’t even look at me.
I sighed. “I’m sorry, okay. I guess I could’ve over reacted. But you’re still an asshole.”
“Was that an apology?”
I smiled a little before I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at his face. “I can heal your jaw.”
Thomas narrowed his eyes. “It’ll heal on its own.”
“I can do it faster.” I reached towards his face, and his hand blocked me. “Stop being a baby.”
He held my gaze for a long time making me feel a little mushy inside. Finally, he folded his hands across his chest and gave me access. His rough stubble scratched my hand as I slid my palm across his jaw, focusing my will on correcting the damage. My fingers took turns skimming across his full lips while the image of his mouth possessing mine filled my head. I didn’t realize I closed my eyes and let my head fall slightly back, until his cool hand cradled the back of my neck urging me forward. It was wrong. It would shade my judgment to have sex with him, but I wanted to forget tonight. As our lips locked, right and wrong became moot points. What did any of it matter when I could feel like this? Thomas’ tongue caressed and teased the inside of my mouth. My hands went to his chest tearing away the remains of his shirt. His skin underneath my hands was like striking a match. Our kisses grew faster and more urgent. I couldn’t seem to get close enough to him.
He rolled me over without warning. Hovering just above my lips, he feathered kisses all along the edges of my mouth. I moved in several times for a deeper connection, but he avoided my swollen lips, making frustration and anticipation swirl throughout my body. My hands wrapped around his narrow waist and jerked him down grinding my hips against his. His mouth slammed back into mine with a groan. My fingers were clumsy with eagerness as I undid the button on his jeans. My towel came apart easily. His nimble hands moved from my shoulders down my ribs, brushing against the side of my breasts, before curling beneath my butt.
“You are exquisite, little tiger,” he said, taking my earlobe between his lips and teasing it with his tongue.
I purred letting the sensation of his lips and tongue against the sensitive skin on my ear eliminate all other thoughts from my mind. The brush of his teeth just above my collarbone set sirens off in my head. I shoved hard against his chest.
He looked down at me with confused eyes.
“No biting.” I wanted to have sex with him. I may have even trusted him not to keep me in a tweaked out stupor while he drained away my life force, but I’d never want to be under anyone’s control, even if it was for just an hour or two. I could never be that submissive.
He bent back over me, brushing strands of hair from my face. “I can live with that.” His mouth covered mine again, rekindling the heat and flush of desire through my body.
He explored the crevices of my body. Tongue dipping and tasting, mouth not so gently sucking, but he never broke my biting rule. When I couldn’t take it anymore and wanted him inside of me now, I rolled on top of him. I straddled him, and he rose up to meet me, splaying his hand across my back. I smiled down, his eyes were nearly black. “No more foreplay.”
A smile spread across his face like honey. He lifted me by the hips and lowered me inch by inch onto him. My head fell back as our bodies moved in time. My claws dug into his back, and our tempo sped to a mind numbing pace. His name tore from my lips, and I demanded more. He repositi
oned us so he was on top and drove in deeper and harder until my vision went white with ecstasy. He continued to move faster within me until I thought I might split apart with ecstasy. We met our end, and he fell back into the tangled covers of the bed, sweaty, bloody from my fingernails, and sated.
*
I woke up freezing cold. Thomas was laying corpse-like next to me which, honestly, freaked me out a little. I put my bloody, ruined clothes on from the night before and found my keys. Behind the wheel of my car, I released a deep breath. I got our only asset killed and had no leads. Not to mention, I slept with my client. Fuck. Even the engine rumbling didn’t make me feel better. I pulled out of the parking lot needing to feel free as I headed back to my apartment before Thomas rejoined the land of the living.
The smell of home relaxed me some as I walked through the door. I threw my keys on the kitchen counter and chugged milk directly from the carton. I had to be missing something. Why Ambrose, was the question that repeated in my mind. I jumped into the shower hoping the steady stream of water pelting my skin would help clear my head from Ambrose’s murder and Thomas. What on earth was I doing with Thomas? I knew better than this. Dumb, Femi, dumb. My head shook trying to dislodge the mental backlash. I needed to focus on the kids and this so called Neru organization. If anyone could tell me what or where Neru was, it’d be Sy. Shit! I never called Sy back.
I turned off the water and quickly dressed in tight black jeans, a white Henley, and my black leather biker jacket. My phone wasn’t in my apartment or the car; I obviously left it at the hotel. Shaking my head, I retrieved my combat boots from my closet and sat on the edge of the couch. Just as I tied off the laces at the top of my boot, my door burst open.
“Femi,” Sy half yelled as he charged in.
“What the hell?” I slipped my boot knife back into its sheath and gave Sy an annoyed look.
“Don’t you answer your phone?” he snapped, but his eyes traveled over me in a quick assessment.
“I was going to call you back. It was a rough night. I lost my bounty.”
His hand ran over the top of his buzz cut as he let out a deep breath. “Good,” he said, nodding.
“Funny, I was less excited.” I shook my head. “I have work to do. Why are you here?”
“Femi, please stay away from this.” His fingers curled around my shoulders, and his worried eyes locked with mine. Sy was old, really old. He looked young, but he was a half-elf, and they could live for hundreds of years. The concern in his eyes sank to the bottom of my stomach like a boulder, but doused my curiosity in lighter fluid.
“Why? What did you find out?”
“You didn’t just find a hornet’s nest.” His fingers dug into my shoulders. “Thirty missing people. Adults and children and a different vampire blamed every couple weeks.”
“But why?”
He shrugged. “Easy scape-goats. No one trusts them, and they keep to themselves.”
“What are they doing with them? Have any bodies been found?”
“Not that I’ve heard, but how hard is it to hide a body? Look, there are only so many reasons why these people could have been taken, and none of them good.”
“Like what?”
“Depends on who’s doing it. If it’s witches, more than likely they’re a sacrifice for some seriously dark magic. If it’s vampires, they could be making a feeding den, which is why bodies haven’t been found. Jinn probably would’ve killed them, but possibly could have turned them; however, the children don’t fit.” His hand drifted up and traced my jaw. “Whoever took them, they’re as good as dead. Walk away before you land on someone’s radar.”
“I’m not going to run away. Would you just run away? You’re only telling me to leave it because I’m a girl.”
He gave me an exaggerated sigh. “That is not why—”
“Then why?” I demanded.
“Because I don’t want to see anything happen to you.”
Sy was a good friend. I trusted him and his judgment more than anyone else, but it went against everything inside of me to run away. “I can’t abandon Thomas.”
His face drooped and arms fell to his sides as he took a couple steps back. “You’re doing this for the vampire. A vampire, Femi!”
“Look,” I hissed as I jabbed my finger into his hard muscular chest. “I got his friend and my bounty shot in the head when I insisted we meet with Neru to turn him over. I can’t stop after I lost the only lead we had. I wouldn’t abandon you, and I won’t abandon him.”
He shook his head and his face twisted in annoyance. “I knew you would say something like that.” He retrieved a stack of folded papers from his jacket and handed them to me. “This is everything I found.”
I took the papers, and he sat down on the couch. I studied all the faces of the missing people and my jaw clenched and tears stung my eyes. If I couldn’t save these people, I could at least bring them justice. My eyes scanned down the pages searching out the names of the accused. “Do you know any vampires we can trust?”
“I thought you trusted Thomas,” he snapped.
“I do, but it never hurts to get a second opinion, does it?”
“Glad to see you haven’t lost all of your sense.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed. “Hey, it’s Sy. Can we meet? I know what time it is, it’s important. Fine. One hour. Thanks, Paolo.” He nodded at me.
“Paolo? You know Paolo?”
“I know a lot of people.”
I shook my head. Sy always managed to surprise me. Vampires didn’t have a leader, but if they did, it’d be Paolo. He was old, powerful, and stayed under the radar. How Sy knew him well enough to just call in the middle of the day was beyond me. “You sort of amaze me sometimes.”
Sy slung his arm around my shoulders and squeezed a little. “You aren’t so bad either, except when you’re being a pain in the ass, which is pretty much all the time.”
I laughed and rested my head against his arm.
“So when are you going to go out with me?”
I laughed again. “You wouldn’t want to date a pain in the ass like me.” I patted his leg and stood up. Thomas, back at the motel, flashed into my mind. I wanted to have a good lead by the time he woke up so we wouldn’t have to talk about last night. I didn’t know how I felt, or what, if anything, this meant. My plan was to charge forward and let the pieces fall where they may. “We should get going.” I offered Sy a hand to help him up.
Sy laced his fingers in mine with a strange look in his eyes. He almost looked injured. He couldn’t have meant asking me out. We always joked about dating, but it was never a serious. We were friends. When he didn’t immediately let go my lungs constricted. Holy crap, did Sy really want to start something? I struggled my hand away from his and grabbed my keys from the counter. “I’m driving,” I announced as I rushed out the door needing the fresh air.
I talked nonstop on the way to Paolo’s, terrified that if I paused for a moment, he would ask me out again. I had enough to deal with just figuring out my feelings for Thomas. How could I factor in my feelings for Sy too? Occasionally he responded, but mostly he watched me as I rambled; his mouth twitched at the edges like he was repressing a smile. When I stopped outside Paolo’s house, he put his hand on my leg to keep me from getting out of the car.
“Femi, take a breath. Calm down.” His grey eyes met mine and made me feel as if I were wrapped in a blanket. “I won’t ask you out again, but I would like you to consider it.” He winked then climbed out of the car.
I took deep breaths trying to shun my personal life from my thoughts until Sy opened my door.
“Are you coming?”
“Yeah.” I got out and rolled my shoulders back. This was why I worked alone—less complications.
The house looked like it should have belonged to a couple with two children and a dog named Spot. The white picket fence and pink trellis roses were almost too much. Sy knocked and a young human looking man opened the door. He led us to a windowle
ss basement where Paolo was waiting on a lovely hand carved rocking chair with his right ankle resting on his left knee. Paolo gave Sy a slight smile then his eyes drifted over to me. They traveled across me at an excruciating pace that made my skin crawl.
“Is she a present? Not really my type, but I give you points for originality.” He had a thick English accent and a handsome grin.
Before I could offer him one of several choice retorts flowing through my mind, Sy stepped slightly in front of me. “No, she’s with me. She’s a hunter. We have a few questions.”
Paolo sighed. “Everyone who comes here wants something from me. What’s in it for me? I don’t even get a taste? It isn’t like I would be her first vampire.”
My eyes nearly bugged out. He couldn’t possibly know about Thomas. My cheeks burned.
“She’s not for you.” Sy’s voice was low and firm, but Paolo ignored him and stared.
“If I’m not mistaken, another vampire tasted her very recently. I can smell him from here.”
Sy looked back at me, anger and confusion in his eyes.
I couldn’t meet his glare. I didn’t know what he wanted from me. Yes, sleeping with Thomas was dumb, but there wasn’t anything I could do about that now. If I had it all to do over again, I wasn’t sure I’d change anything. I liked Thomas, and we were both consenting adults who needed each other in that moment. I walked to Paolo and offered him my hand. “If this is what it takes for your help, so be it.”
Paolo stood, but didn’t touch me. He leaned down and drew a deep breath at the nape of my neck. I didn’t flinch or step back. “You’re brave, Sekhmet, but I will not take what you offer. My friend would not soon forget if I did.” He looked at Sy over my shoulder. “But she smells divine.”
Sy cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t know. You’d have to ask the vampire.” Anger was unmistakable in his voice and made me feel like a teenager who missed curfew.
I swung around clenching my fists to my side. “Last time I checked, my personal life was none of your business.”
“My mistake.”
“Good, now that that’s settled,,,” Paolo said behind me as his icy fingers slid to the back of my neck making me shiver.