Once she was sure the vamp was dead, Shanti hefted the dead body into the dumpster, leaving it open so the body would fade away come morning. She shook her head then turned to the man, who was still slumped against the back of the building, but was conscious, staring at her with a mix of fear and awe. He was still bleeding from the neck; the vamp had pulled her fangs out of the man’s artery without sealing the wounds.
Shanti approached the man slowly, trying to calm him. Even as she was trying to be business-like, she couldn’t help noticing that he was drop-dead freaking gorgeous. He looked like he was something Middle Eastern, maybe, warm complexion, light, golden-brown eyes, and the longest, blackest lashes she’d ever seen. His black hair was cut close to his head, and a neat goatee completed the picture.
The scent of his blood was making her throat burn, her fangs descend. She tried to keep them hidden from the man.
“It’s okay now,” she said softly, holding her hands out, letting him see her. “I’m here to help you.”
“You killed that thing,” he said, his voice low, smooth. A good voice.
“Yes. I did. Your neck is still bleeding. I can close the wounds, if you’ll let me.”
“How?”
Shanti hesitated. This was clearly a Normal, and one who had no clue what kind of mess he’d really gotten into. “It’s probably better if I show you. I swear I will not hurt you. Can you trust me?”
He stared at her. She held her dagger out to him. The other vamps’ blood, both the one from earlier and the one she’d just killed, still stained the blade. “You can hold this if it’ll make you feel better.”
He shook his head, still staring at her.
“This will only take a second. We need to make it stop.”
He nodded, then, and she approached him slowly. She angled his head gently, trying to get access to his wound, and he stiffened.
“It’s okay,” she said softly. “I am not like that one. I will not hurt you.”
He didn’t relax, but at least he wasn’t trying to run away. He’d lost a lot of blood, and she was worried about him blacking out. Shanti leaned in, and gently licked at his wound, using her saliva to seal it, to heal it as if it had never been there at all.
She forced herself not to react visibly to the taste of his blood. Holy hell. Rich, sweet, warm perfection. She closed her eyes for a moment, savored the flavor of him coating her mouth. She took a breath she didn’t need, mostly to settle herself down, and she stepped back.
His gaze was on her, tracking every move she made. The man put a hand to his neck, then looked at it. When he saw no blood, his gaze shot back up to her.
“What are you?” he asked.
She regretted what had to come next. She didn’t like this part in general, and she felt even more of a pang over having to do it now. “I am the same thing she was,” she said softly, meeting his eyes, making it very clear that she wasn’t messing around. “If you breathe a word of what you saw, what you experienced tonight, you will only open yourself up to being hunted by more of my kind. And you likely won’t make it out alive if that happens. Do you understand?”
God, she felt like a first-rate asshole doing that.
He nodded, slowly, eyes still glued to hers. “Thank you,” he said. “I don’t even know what I’d tell anyone. They’d think I was nuts.”
She smiled a little. “You’re handling it really well, considering.”
“I’m going to go drink myself into a stupor now, I think,” he said, and it made her grin.
“Not a bad idea. I wasn’t kidding. Not a word.”
He nodded. “What’s your name, anyway?”
She looked around. “My name’s Shanti. And you never saw me.”
And with that, she took off, at vampire speed. It wasn’t until she was nearly home that she detected another vampire, shadowing her every move.
Zero stared into the night after the woman who had rescued him. One second, she was there, and the next there was no sign of her.
“My name is Shanti, and you never saw me.”
Her words echoed in his mind, etched into his memory. Zero looked down the alley for a while longer, then started heading up the metal stairs that led to the apartment above the martial arts studio he owned with a buddy of his, and let himself in. His apartment was sparsely furnished; a twin bed, a television, and a nightstand. A shelf with a few books and mementos from places he’d been. There was a small bathroom off to the side. The entire apartment was ridiculously small and the wallpaper had yellowed with age. But it was his, and that was enough.
He sat on the edge of the bed, looked down at his hands. They were still shaking, and he clasped them together, trying to force them to stop. He brought one hand up to his neck.
The second that first thing had grabbed him, all of his training had kicked in. He’d seen red, started punching and kicking out mercilessly. He was a more than competent fighter.
Against the thing in the alley, taken by surprise, it hadn’t meant a damn thing. He was overpowered within seconds.
And then he’d felt the thing’s teeth rip into his neck. At first, he had been in too much shock and fear to feel anything. And then he did, and it reminded him of that night, of shrapnel tearing into his body.
It reminded him, yet again, that an attack can come at anytime. Twice in his life now he’d nearly been snuffed out, with no warning.
Zero got up and went into the tiny bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror over the sink. His t-shirt was caked in his blood; the thing had been really messy. And at first, he’d thought it was just ripping him apart, until he realized that it was sucking hungrily at his wound.
His stomach turned. He pulled his ruined shirt off and tossed it into the bathroom garbage can. He inspected his neck in the mirror. That was the even crazier part. There wasn’t a sign that the thing had ever attacked him at all. And that was all due to the one who had saved him.
Shanti.
He recalled the way she’d moved, the quick, efficient way she’d disposed of the thing that had attacked him. Watching her had been like watching a perfectly choreographed dance of death. He’d never seen anyone move like that, and even as he watched, even as he watched her approach him, he knew she wasn’t human.
And then there had been her sweet, soft voice.
The feel of her tongue on his flesh. Healing. Taking the pain away. Soothing.
He closed his eyes.
“I will not hurt you.”
Offering him her knife, trying to make him feel better.
Not human.
Like the thing that had attacked him.
Zero tried to shake himself out of it. He turned the water on in the tiny shower, stepped under the searing heat. He scrubbed his blood off of his body, let the water work some of the kinks out of his neck and shoulders.
He couldn’t get those dark brown eyes out of his mind. That voice.
It wasn’t the fact that there were non-humans walking around that really rocked his world. That was crazy, but that wasn’t the craziest thing that had happened to him that night.
The craziest thing was that someone had bothered to care for him. That was something that just did not happen. Not ever. His quiet, sheltered ways, the way he glared at everybody, the way he was always on edge, waiting for, expecting, an attack, kept everyone away. And he wanted it that way.
He didn’t pray. He didn’t believe there was something bigger out there watching out for him. He didn’t believe in heaven, hell, gods or devils. But he knew that the fact that he was going to live to see another day was thanks to the gorgeous, graceful, deadly being who’d appeared at just the right time.
Zero got out of the shower, pulled on a pair of sweats, and went back into his room, checking the door and window locks before settling onto the squeaky mattress.
“My name is Shanti. And you never saw me.”
Chapter Two
Once Shanti sensed the vampire who’d been tracking her, she sure the hell was
n’t willing to lead him or her back to the loft. Ada’s wards would keep anyone who wasn’t supposed to be there out but there would be nothing to stop someone from lying in wait outside the loft. Her friends, her team mates, were powerful. Hard to kill. But not impossible to kill, and she wasn’t willing to put them in danger. Not after all they’d done for her.
So she ran in the opposite direction, toward the riverfront. RiverWalk was mostly empty at that time of night and even more so when it was this cold out. When she reached the part of RiverWalk behind the Renaissance Center, she slowed to a normal, human pace. She could still feel the other vampire nearby.
It was hard to explain how it worked. She knew that Molly and Nain could identify beings just from feeling their energy patterns. Brennan could pick out another shifter with zero effort. Shanti could detect other beings by smell, by listening. And while she could rarely smell or even hear another vampire, she could sense her own kind easily, like an internal radar alerting her to the presence of other vamps. It was one more confusing thing about being what she was now. She really didn’t understand how any of it worked.
She had a feeling she never really would.
As she strolled, she tried to get a sense of where the other vampire was now. Whoever it was, it was an older vampire. Not incredibly old, but old enough to have a significant amount of power. She walked and listened. Then she leaned against the railing at the edge of the RiverWalk, Detroit River behind her, empty plaza around her.
Within a few seconds, the other vampire came out of the shadows. Female. Her skin reminded Shanti of golden honey, and her eyes were a soft, soothing greenish-gray. Her long dark hair flowed over her shoulders, and she was dressed simply; jeans and a white turtleneck. She was tall, taller than Shanti. As she walked in Shanti’s direction, she carried herself in a way that screamed “confidence.” She didn’t rush or hold back. She looked cool and collected.
She reminded Shanti of Molly in that way. And just as Molly was deadly, Shanti could sense that this woman was as well.
The other vampire stopped a few feet in front of Shanti and stood there studying her. Shanti kept her eyes on the other vamp. They stood, studied each other wordlessly for several long seconds. And then the vamp seemed to relax. Shanti knew better than to let her guard down.
“Relax, my friend. I’m not here to hurt you,” the vampire said, and her voice was calm, with a husky tenor that just added to her confident appearance.
“I don’t know you, and you’re not my friend,” Shanti said.
“When did you realize I was following you?”
“When I left the alley.”
The vamp smiled then. “Impressive. I’m usually much better at sneaking up on my prey.”
“Are all of your friends prey?” Shanti asked, and the vamp laughed.
“You’re a vampire. You tell me. Do you trust any of our kind?”
“That would be monumentally stupid.”
“Indeed. For the record, I’ve been following you since you left your home this evening. I watched you drag that vampire out of her house. I watched you save the Normal.”
Damn.
“And why would you bother doing that?” Shanti asked, crossing her arms over her chest. It had been Molly’s bad ass look. Shanti wasn’t too proud to admit to herself that she’d probably spent way too much time, early in in her time at the loft, practicing it in front of the mirror in her room.
The vamp smiled again. “Word on the street is that you’re the Angel and the Demon’s pet vamp.”
Shanti studied the other vamp. “I’m nobody’s pet anything. But I’m absolutely theirs.”
The vamp studied her. “You are loyal. I wonder why.”
“Well that’s my business and not yours. Was there a point to all of this, or do I have a new stalker? Because I’ll tell you, I already have a demon doing that and it’s getting tiresome.”
“Yes, I’ve seen him. Bad idea, getting involved with demons, no matter how good they taste or screw.”
Yeah. Like that was news.
“For the record, I’m not stalking you. I’m studying you.”
“Is there a difference?”
The vamp laughed then, tossing her head back. “Of course. My name is Rayna, and I am here because I’d like to ask for your help, Shanti.”
Shanti just watched her.
“I’ve been studying you. You are exceptionally well-trained. Deadly. Smart. And I’ve just learned that loyalty is another strength of yours. You fight to protect those who can’t protect themselves, as all of the Angel and Demon’s associates do. You’re the kind of woman I want on my side.”
“And your side is?”
“The side that’s going to rid this city of the vampires who terrorize innocents. Vampires who murder. Vampires who turn humans without their consent.”
“And how do you expect to do that?” Shanti asked, thinking to herself that the woman was full of shit.
“By taking over. By ruling. You’ve heard how other regions handle themselves in this regard, yes?”
“You mean the fact that they have vamp kings or queens in charge? Yeah.”
Rayna nodded. “I think Detroit is overdue for one. Your current team deals with so many vampire issues that would be better handled by our own kind.”
“You want to rule, to protect people,” Shanti said, well aware of the disbelief in her tone.
“Isn’t that what the Angel does? Everyone follows her rules, and the city is safe. Someone steps out of line, and they’ve got the Angel knocking at their door. If they’re lucky, they’ll live another day.”
Shanti fought back the wave of sadness she felt at the loss of her friend, her mentor. “She does.”
“I mean to follow in her footsteps. I mean to take the vampire problems off of her hands, so she can focus on other things.” Rayna stopped talking, looked closely at Shanti. “Is it true she’s gone?”
“She’s visiting her family. They need her now,” Shanti said. It was none of this woman’s business where Molly was or what she was doing. It was close enough to the truth, anyway.
“And the demon is in charge again?”
Shanti just looked at Rayna. Then she looked around. “There’s another vampire here,” she whispered, knowing Rayna would be able to hear the barely audible sound.
Rayna went still and Shanti knew she was trying to sense the other vampire as well. Shanti focused, held up her fingers. Five.
“I’ve made a few enemies,” Rayna said.
“Great. If you double cross me here, I will hunt your ass down and destroy you. Just so you know,” Shanti said as she and Rayna went back to back.
“I believe you. I should have brought my bodyguard. He is going to be so annoyed that he missed this.”
Shanti was about to respond when the vampires appeared out of the shadows. They moved, a bunch of blurs coming toward them. Shanti caught sight of a long knife, a gun and then there was no time to look at anything, because she and Rayna were fighting the vampires off. Shanti automatically got into the state of mind she’d developed as she’d worked with Brennan. She was focused, cold. It was as natural as breathing had been, once up on a time, and her body moved with almost no effort at all, blocking, hitting, striking out with her own blade. Within moments, she had stabbed one in the throat with her silver knife, and she heard Rayna laugh in glee behind her as she battled her own enemies. They were down to four, then three as Rayna finished another one off.
The vampires that opposed them now weren’t particularly old. The male Shanti was fighting at that moment was the oldest of the three and Shanti was doing a decent job of keeping him busy while Rayna faced off against the other two, twin daggers appearing in her her hands. Shanti would have loved to watch her fight; from what she could see from her vantage point, Rayna could use the hell out of the daggers. She spun, kicked, stabbed as fluidly as if she were dancing. Shanti grinned and advanced on the older vamp, who was doing his best to hit her, knock her down, distract
her. Shanti struck out and hit him hard in the face. It was just enough time to kick him away so she would work her way around him and see Rayna if the other woman ended up needing her help. For the time being, that looked highly unlikely.
The vampire Shanti was fighting sprung back up, growling, and Shanti kicked his leg out from under him with a quick strike to the knee, then stabbed him in the back on his way down. He screeched as he fell, and Shanti pulled her knife out of his back. Rayna had her final opponent down, and struck the killing blow, twisting the final vampire’s head off (gross) and then tossing it to the ground next to the body.
Shanti looked around, then down at herself. One of the vampires had gotten a shallow cut in on her abdomen, and it would heal within a few hours. Rayna looked uninjured.
“You know them?” Shanti asked Rayna.
Rayna nodded. “The one you were fighting at the end is one of the few who realized what I’ve been trying to do. He’s been threatening to act against me for some time now. And he stupidly believed that striking at me when my bodyguard was not present would be the perfect opportunity.” She laughed then. “Ronan is going to be so pissed he missed this.”
“That’s your bodyguard?”
Rayna nodded. “He’s also my baby brother.”
“Vampire brother, you mean?”
“That, and my human brother as well.”
“Wow. That must be nice,” Shanti said. Rayna nodded, smiling.
“It is nice. He’s a little over-protective, though.”
Shanti glanced around at the bodies again. “We should probably clean up before a cop comes along.”
Rayna nodded. It was convenient, having the river right there. They just grabbed the bodies and tossed them into the river. They’d float along, and then, come morning, they’d cease to be.
Once they were done, Shanti turned to Rayna again. “You wanted me to join you. For what?”
“To do what you just did. To fight those who want things to stay as dangerous and chaotic as they have been. To help me keep things in control here.”
Forever Night: A Hidden Novella Page 2