Blood Ties

by Shayne Carmichael

  "Have you converted him yet?” he asked, laughing.

  "Nope, he said something about heading over to Aiken's booth."

  Adrian rolled his eyes. “Great. I read more books trying to keep up with him. Allie, you wouldn't happen to know of any charms that can ward off vamps, would you?"

  "A few, why?” She paused, giving him a curious look as she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the counter. “I've got something else you might be interested in, too."

  "Get back to me with whatever you can come up with on the wards. What's interesting?"

  "I'll work on it, Adrian. Carla Reese sent me an email. You heard about the new proposals McCabe is trying to pass?"

  "I read about it in the paper. Probably won't pass though, since the majority isn't interested in giving rights to anybody who can't vote.” Adrian didn't have any faith at all in that idea passing Congress.

  "The university is working on some apparatus that will alter the brain waves enough for non-seers to temporarily be seers. Reese thinks it might swing things on the wraith side."

  "Might work, though I wouldn't count on it, Allie."

  "She asked if I knew any seers or guides who might be interested in working with her, so I told her I would ask around."

  He chuckled. “What's her number? I'll give her a call."

  "I have her card right here.” Allie fished a business card out of her pocket before handing it to him. “I hoped you might be interested, Adrian."

  "Thanks, Allie. I'm up for anything that helps the cause. Now I just need to find Charlie and drag him out of here. I'll catch up with you on those charms."

  It took him thirty minutes to find Charlie. When Adrian spotted him, Charlie had a stack of books in his arms that made Adrian inwardly groan as they left the center.

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  Chapter 5

  His two days were up, and Adrian was on his own personal doomsday schedule. Every free minute had been spent in practice with the staker, under the patient eye of Yar. He never once bugged Adrian about any of it, not even when Adrian had a night off and haunted Yar's firing range the entire time. Adrian's aim had become deadly accurate. Well, not so deadly as long as he didn't shoot a living person.

  Why was it time went by so fast when you didn't want to end up somewhere? Time was up for him, and Adrian hadn't changed his answer, so he trudged into the Sang Erotique to give it again. The name was a fancy French term for Erotic Blood. Adrian didn't know where they could have come up with such an idea. This time around he had the rider, and he carried the staker too. Of course, it was appropriately covered at his hip by the fact that he wore a long leather jacket.

  Nobody hassled him this time. He headed to Garland's table and slid into the wide U-shaped booth. One of the bartenders brought him a white wine, setting it in front of him. Adrian flashed him a million-watt variety smile. A display of nervousness on his part, but the smile must have flustered the waiter because he blushed. Oh, he's cute.

  "I'm Xander. Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Debrett."

  Adrian noted the golden brown hair that fell past Xander's shoulders, framing open features. He seemed like the honest looking, boy-next-door type. So why was he here? Xander wasn't dressed in only skintight pants like the rest of staff wore, so he wasn't a waiter, either. He was definitely of the living variety, but Adrian could see a second kind of energy surrounding Xander, an energy he'd never seen before. It puzzled him. “Thanks, Xander."

  "If you need anything else, let me know.” A smile crossed Xander's lips, adding a crinkling to the corners of his gray eyes. He stood there just staring at Adrian, unblinking. The smile faded to a puzzled look on his features before he turned and headed back to the bar counter. Adrian watched silently as he walked away. Nice ass. Strange encounter, though.

  Adrian picked up the glass, taking a sip. White wine he could live with. You couldn't sneak blood into clear liquids. Yar's folder had been full of little tricks vampires liked to play, legal or not.

  Adrian glanced occasionally over toward the bar and caught Xander's eyes on him. Now he started to wonder if something was wrong with him that he hadn't caught onto yet. He slid off his jacket before wiggling around some, finally settling the jacket next to him to hide the staker. He could have taken the coat off while he was standing, but there was no need to flash the gun and scare the patrons.

  Ever see a tiger stalking something? That image came to mind as Adrian saw Gabriel move through the bar, his gaze never wavering from Adrian.

  Now I know how a rabbit feels. Of course, the rabbit would have been running by now. It showed rabbits were smarter than Adrian. He instinctively sought out the solid feel of the staker.

  "A pleasure to have you here, Adrian."

  "You wanted my answer, so here I am."

  Garland held up a hand so Adrian wouldn't continue. “We will discuss that later. For now, I want you to enjoy the show. It's quite good."

  Adrian thought about it for a moment before shrugging. What the hell, I need a break and now is as good a time as any. I might even enjoy it. I can relax in the enemy camp, sort of. “All right, Garland."

  "Please, call me Gabriel.” The lazy half smile returned to Gabriel's lips.

  "All right, Gabriel.” Adrian wasn't in the mood to argue over what he called the vampire. Instead, he watched the two dancers. The movement of their bodies looked vaguely obscene and certainly held the eye, his included. Their skin gleamed silver white under the lights of the stage. Each time one man moved closer to the other, the slow, sensual slinking of their bodies matched the soft beat of music. He didn't even realize Gabriel had moved closer to him until he felt the brush of Gabriel's thigh.

  He narrowed his gaze briefly on Gabriel; he wasn't comfortable with the vampire that close. Gabriel wasn't paying any attention to the dancers, just to him. Fully aware of Gabriel, Adrian put his eyes back on the dancers just as they moved together in slow motion for a kiss.

  Reaching for Adrian's hand, Gabriel raised it to his lips brushing a kiss to the skin. That brought Adrian's attention right back to Gabriel. Part of him definitely liked this, while the other part screamed, 'What in the hell are you doing?'

  Turning his hand, Gabriel placed another kiss on Adrian's wrist. His eyes were a luminous blue that held Adrian enthralled.

  "You are trying to seduce me."

  "True. But the scent of your blood calls to me."

  The soft, silky tone seemed to wash over Adrian, making him blink several times. Bottle that voice and sell it; every man in the world would get laid.

  He tugged his hand back, having no desire to be a vampire's personal blood bank.

  "Do you even know what it feels like to be fed from?"

  "I heard it's supposed to feel good.” Adrian didn't believe it.

  "You should speak to the ghouls, Adrian. It is far more than supposedly good; it is almost as good as being made love to."

  For a split second, Adrian wanted to bang his head on the table. It already felt like Gabriel was making love to him, and with just that voice. He had difficulty keeping himself from reacting to Gabriel. He'd pass on the bite. “Keep your fangs to yourself, and I'll be fine without the experience."

  He saw the flicker of hunger as a low growl sounded from Gabriel. Adrian's fingers touched the solid metal of his staker.

  Gabriel seemed to withdraw, an austere expression gracing his features, smoothing them into emotionless lines. “You had something to tell me, Adrian?"

  The rapid change of subject surprised him, but Adrian quickly adjusted. His break had ended; he was cool with that. “My answer is no. I won't be your ghoul, Gabriel."

  "As you wish. Now, if you will excuse me.” Gabriel stood and executed a low bow in Adrian's direction before turning and leaving him there.

  Whoa, when it did get so easy? Adrian scanned the room to make sure no other vampires were coming toward him. Adrian was suspicious because Gabriel had given up too fast. The only one watching him seem
ed to be Xander. Getting up, he grabbed his jacket and slipped it back on, not caring who he flashed this time. It shocked him when he made it safely to his car.

  When he got home, all Adrian could think of was a glass of juice and bed. Being up for two straight days gave him a rather haggard look, if his mirror was anything to go by. Maybe that was why Xander had kept eyeing him, and was the reason for Adrian seeing things. He could have sworn the bottle of juice hadn't been opened yet. Lack of sleep had made him lose track of things.

  * * * *

  After severely damaging his alarm clock, Adrian managed to make it on time to the university for the noon appointment he had set up with Clara Reese. As he sat across a desk from her, he listened to her explain how far they had gotten with their equipment.

  "I got the general basics of operations, Mrs. Reese. Allie said you were hoping to sway the committees in Washington toward the ghost side; that part interests me."

  "We've already got the general signatures for the seers. The rest is fine-tuning.” Clara looked to be a no nonsense woman with an entirely professional demeanor and clothing, her dark hair tightly scraped back into bun. She pushed the paper across the desk to him. “Our list of seer volunteers is small. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Any facts that would add to the evidence wouldn't hurt, either."

  Brown eyes framed by wire-rimmed glasses met his with a shrewd look. Adrian checked over the list before handing it back to her. “I know some that might help you, plus I have several case files you would be interested in. Two in particular were bindings; one of the cases was mine."

  "Tell me about it, Mr. Debrett."

  "Please call me Adrian. You remember Robinson?"

  "The Riverside killer? Yes, I heard about him in the papers."

  "He had one of his victims bound to him. Made her follow him around while he went on his killing sprees. I laid her to rest. Luckily, a friend of mine spotted her in court with Richardson and called me. Naturally, the guide involved with the binding was never prosecuted for that. They only nailed him for having knowledge of a crime. That's on the high end of appalling, but I don't think it's a common enough occurrence to sway the lawmakers."

  "The more we compile, the more we can shove in their faces.” Clara had a blunt way of talking that he liked.

  "Most of the bindings are guides getting revenge on an enemy by binding a wraith to them. Or even a ghost to a place. Billy Randall is doing a study. I can call him and see what he's come up with. He's an old friend of mine, and I'm sure he'll be happy to send you whatever he has, Clara."

  "I'd appreciate that, Adrian. Now I'll introduce you to the staff and show you around. They'll be glad to have you aboard."

  Adrian stood, following Clara as she moved out from behind her desk and led him downstairs to the main lab. He spent the next couple of hours immersed in lab equipment and talking with Clara's co-workers. They impressed him both with the amount of work they'd accomplished, and the fact they actually dedicated themselves to helping out wraiths. He had expected a bunch of students hoping to get A's on their work and no more. It was a while before Adrian wanted to leave, as each member had their own personal tales for why they were greatly interested in the field.

  When Clara had to return to her office, she left him with a group discussing their own abilities in the seer department. One in particular had Adrian's undivided attention as she talked.

  "It can be difficult. Sometimes I have the feeling that there is more, as if something was expected of me, but I don't know what it is."

  The other two looked somewhat puzzled, uncertain of what she talked about. Adrian asked, “Do you mean family members or others who are unknown to you?"

  "It happens all the time, Mr. Debrett."

  "You can call me Adrian.” He really wasn't one for the mister thing.

  "Most of the time I only see them for a few moments, Sylvia. So I've never had that happen.” Bill shook his head.

  Sylvia nodded to Adrian before speaking. “That's what everybody else tells me, Bill.” Shrugging, she acted as if she dismissed the subject.

  "It depends on the amount of time the wraiths spend around you. For some, it's fairly common.” Adrian didn't want to say too much, but just from looking at Sylvia, he could tell she had guide ability.

  "The same thing happens to you, Adrian?"

  "Yeah, quite often. If you want, I might be able to help you out some.” He pulled one of his business cards from his card case and handed it to her. Bless Charlie's insistence that he always carry the things. “Give me a call at my office and we can talk."

  "Sure, I'd be glad to.” Sylvia took the card from him with a relieved smile.

  Saying farewell to the group, Adrian headed out of the building to his car. It didn't surprise him Sylvia might have guide ability, but he didn't say anything in front of her friends since not everybody liked something like that being known. It'd be easy enough to take her along on one of his jobs to test her.

  After he left the university, Adrian stopped by the office to pick up his list of appointments for the night. He didn't expect to see Xander standing by the desk, talking with Charlie.

  "Sure, I can pick you up around 11:30. You'll just have to give me your address, Charlie."

  Standing in the doorway, Adrian looked between the two of them, nosy as hell, wondering what was going on.

  "Hello, Mr. Debrett.” Xander gave him a warm smile.

  "Oh, hey, Adrian, Xander and I are going to Sanderson's lecture. Do you want to come?” Charlie wrote down directions to his place as he spoke to Adrian.

  "Xander, Adrian will do fine. When's the lecture?” Grabbing the printout from the desk, Adrian gave it a quick look over.

  "Saturday at noon,” Charlie answered.

  "No, I can't. I'm supposed to be at a meeting with Clara Reese at noon.” He looked up from the list over to Charlie. “Scratch Mrs. Russell from the list."

  "What's up with Russell?"

  "I'll explain later.” Glancing back at Xander, Adrian asked, “How come you're here?"

  In answer, Xander handed him an envelope.

  Adrian opened it and quickly read over the note. Gabriel wanted him to join the vampire at the club later that night. Frowning, Adrian shook his head. “I won't be able to make it."

  "I'll let him know.” Xander's tone and expression were totally neutral. Addressing Charlie, he said, “Don't forget, I'll be at your place around 11:30."

  "It's pretty easy to find my house, Xander. I'll see you Saturday.” Charlie handed the piece of paper to Xander.

  Taking the scrap of paper from Charlie, Xander tucked it in his pocket as he left.

  Adrian had no problem if Xander and Charlie got chummy as long as Xander kept his mouth shut.

  Curiosity showed plainly on Charlie's face as he asked Adrian, “What was that about?"

  "A note from a client. And you know I hate social events.” He added the last part to head off any questions about the client.

  "Are you missing another night out, Adrian?” Charlie looked very disappointed.

  Adrian wasn't disappointed at all. “Finish up the work and stop worrying about my social life, Charlie."

  He made it out with the list before Charlie could say any more. When Adrian stepped outside, he saw Xander standing beside his car.

  "Need something else, Xander?” Adrian stopped by the car door, inserting the key.

  "I just wanted to ask if you were bothered about Charlie and me going to the lecture. I didn't think about it when he first asked me if I wanted to go, Adrian."

  "Nah, I don't mind. As long as you never mention Gabriel to him, it'll be fine with me.” Opening the door, Adrian slid into the seat.

  "Thanks, I really wanted to go.” Xander leaned against the door, closing it for Adrian.

  "If it weren't important for me to meet with Clara Reese, I'd be joining you guys. So take some notes for me.” He started to feel a wee bit of attraction to Xander. The guy was fucking gorgeous.
r />   When Xander smiled, Adrian found himself smiling back.

  "How about I just remember everything he says and tell you about it later?"

  "Thanks, Xander."

  "Are you sure you don't want to come by the club later?"

  "No, I won't be there.” He wasn't wandering into Gabriel's territory even on the off chance of seeing Xander.

  "Catch you some other time, then.” Stepping back from the car, Xander headed to his own. Adrian watched him for a moment before pulling out of the parking lot. Driving home, he spent more than a few moments pondering why things couldn't be easier in his life.

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  Chapter 6

  The next morning, after a side trip to the store, Adrian returned to his apartment and checked his answering machine. There was a message from Gray asking Adrian to call him. Picking up the phone, he dialed the number.

  "Adrian here. What'd you want, Gray?” He tried to talk on the phone and set down the bags of groceries at the same time.

  "I need to talk to you, Debrett."

  "Sure. What's going on?” Luckily, the cord stretched to the counter, so Adrian busied himself putting things away and got himself a glass of juice.

  "I'll tell you when you get here. I'm right down the street at Bernard's."

  "Give me a few, and I'll be there.” After he hung up, Adrian drank the juice and finished putting everything away.

  Since it was only a five-minute walk to the diner, he didn't bother driving. Entering the semi-crowded restaurant, he spotted Gray at the counter and headed over to join the man. As he slid onto the stool next to Gray, Adrian asked, “Got something for me or is this just social?"

  "I got a few questions for you.” Gray looked like he was in his professional mode, so this obviously wasn't a social coffee break.

  "Questions? Shoot, then.” Adrian ordered a tomato juice from the waitress while Gray sipped his coffee.