When she rounded the corner, she ran head long into Detective Ashe, knocking them both to the ground. She jumped up and pulled him to his feet in a single movement. He was surprised and confused. He started to brush himself off, babbling apologies. Cassy grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the car he had just exited.
“Get in! There’s no time to explain!” She opened the door and gave him a shove. He slid across the vinyl seat, hitting his head on the driver side window. Cassy dove in behind him, slammed the door, and locked it. Ashe fumbled getting the key into the ignition. Just as he gave it a twist, something hit the back of his car. He stepped on the gas and sped down the street.
“What the hell was that all about?” He was angry and perplexed. His brows could almost touch, he furrowed them so hard.
She was looking out the back window. No one seemed to be following them. There was blood on the trunk and a deep dent. “I don’t know. I was having breakfast and listening to the cops in the hall whispering. Someone came up to them. There were sounds of a fight. Whoever it was broke in, but I went down the fire escape. They smashed out the window and were chasing me. I ran into you, and the rest you know,” she explained.
“Damn it. I was afraid of this,” he said. He bit his lip and sucked hard. It was bleeding a little. Cassy fought the urge to drop her fangs. She had not finished her breakfast. The scent wafted in the close warm air. It made her think of their encounter Halloween night. The smell of it brought memories of his taste. If it were possible, she would have blushed.
They drove to the remnants of Olympic Centennial Park. The sign to the green parking area was barely visible under the years of grime. Every available resource had gone into making the city habitable and restarting the flow of trade. Nothing was left for keeping up what used to be called green spaces. The place was deserted. He pulled into a parking space out of sight.
“Do you have any idea why someone would want to harm you?”
Thinking about Erica’s warning Cassy shook her head. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was a mistake. His lip was no longer bleeding, but the lingering scent required her to sit still.
“Could you please roll down a window? I think we need a little fresh air in here,” she requested.
“Why? It’s kind of cold outside.”
“You’ve been bleeding. Your lip. I didn’t get to finish eating this morning. Please?” She swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes tight. When she opened them, she looked at him with a pained expression. “Please?”
It took a moment for him to understand. His mouth made a little O and the window slid down. The cool night air helped clear her head.
“I need to call this in. Wait for me here. I’ll only be a moment.” He stepped out of the car and moved around to the back. “Miss Daniels, come look at this, please,” he called out.
Cassy got out and met him behind the car. Her eyes followed his gaze. The dented trunk lid was covered in blood. A scrap of dark, wet fabric clung to the bumper. The smell excited her more than his lip. It was human tainted with something else. Her fangs dropped. She had to run away. When she was far enough way, she stopped.
He caught up to her by the Fountain of Rings. “Wait up! You can’t go running off like that! There are people after you. Where did you think you were going to go?” He was even angrier.
“It was that or eat you. Your choice.” Her voice was strained with control. “I’m not going to apologize for being what I am, but I am sorry for taking off with no warning.”
“Miss Daniels…” She held up her hands to stop him. He just stood there with his jaw clinched shut. Anger still oozed from him. Adrenaline perfumed his skin. She dropped her hands. The combination was intoxicating.
“Stop calling me that, David. My name is Cassandra. You may call me Cassy,” she said and gave him a firm look.
“Cassy? You know my name. I don’t recall telling you my first name. You’re Cassy from Trysts! I thought there was something familiar about you.” His anger turned to something she could not cipher. A mixture of emotions played out on his face, surprise, recognition, embarrassment, and then resolve. “You fed on me,” he added flatly. “You fed on me and then dumped me.”
Of all the things she expected him to say, this was not it. Shouting and accusations would have been more fitting. Had her compulsion not held? Shock tinged with fear rolled through her. Her fangs retracted. There was no point in lying. She would have to see how much he remembered.
“Yes, but you were in a vampire bar with ample signs warning humans. Since you were there, you were a legal feed.” She did not think this would deter him but hoped it would defuse the situation a little. It helped. His facial expressions softened into hurt.
“Yes. Yes, I was there. I didn’t know what you were but knew it was possible. Afterward, I went to the urgent care. They noticed the punctures below the scratch and stitched them up. They checked me out, but I was fine otherwise. I don’t remember a thing. Which means you compelled me! Why did you do that? Why didn’t you let me remember? What did we do?” He looked away. Cassy was ashamed. She had taken something from him he may have wanted. She had taken his choice.
“We had sex in the parking deck against your car. I lost control and bit you. I haven’t fed from a living, viable person for over thirty years, not since before The Fall. I guess I didn’t want you to remember me as a monster that could use you so casually. I can undo the compulsion and bring up the memory, but now is not the time. It can be overwhelming. Sometimes people relive the experience as if it were the present,” she admitted with as much apologetic tone as she could muster.
“No. Now is not the time.” He was stern, hurt, betrayed. Cassy was not sure what to say.
“Forgive me, when you can. For now, we need to get out of here and find someplace safe.” She offered him her hand. “Truce?”
He left her with the offer hanging in midair for a moment. Then, with tightly pressed lips, he accepted it and shook. “Truce. This conversation is not over, but it can wait.” He dropped her hand as if it burned him.
“Fine. When we left my apartment building, you said something about being afraid this would happen. Why?”
“I think we better get someplace out of sight. Some places have big ears and equally big mouths.” He looked around as if to scan the area. “Let’s get back to the car.”
Minutes later, they were back out on the highway. Instead of going to the police station, he took the interstate north. He did not speak or look in her direction.
Cassy was confused. “Where are we going?”
“My house. I’ll call in from there. We can talk without being disturbed or having to worry about the place being bugged.”
“Bugged? By who?”
“I’m not sure. But the only other people who knew you were home alone and under guard were cops. My captain will understand. I’ll call him at home and let him patch things up on his end. You just became a very valuable item, Miss…ah…Cassy.”
She hung her head and quietly thought of Erica’s warning and instruction. “Call your father.” She would have to now but not until she was somewhere safe.
* * * *
The drive home was blessedly quiet, in David’s opinion. He had hoped she would not want to chat the entire time. Instead she stared at her lap for nearly half the trip. The other half, she sat unmoving and stared out the window. This suited David, too. He focused on the road, gripped the steering wheel a little too tight, and drove. The silence left him to think.
He thought back to her apology and truce offer, but he wasn’t ready to let go of the hurt. It was too new, too raw. His anger turned to a mixture of emotions. He was surprised to find her after thinking she was long gone from his life. The hazy part of his brain that wanted to remember the hidden elements pulled an earlier memory and, at last, there was full recognition. Her voice. Her face framed by hot pink curls. The odd phrasing and cadence of her words. He should have known her for what she was, a vampire. His cheeks
felt hot with embarrassment and fury. She had used him and left him there. He should have known better than to treat her like another human. Resolve came with the anger. She was more than a one-night stand gone wrong. She was a target, the only survivor and witness they had. His hurt and feelings of betrayal needed to wait.
His first duty was to protect her. She was not just a victim. She was a witness, a clue. She was the first real break in a long line of dead end leads. He had to keep her safe. The lives of countless others depended on her ability to help him solve this.
Her waist-length chocolate hair with its waves and curls, very white complexion, bright silvery gray eyes, and delicate facial features gave her the appearance of a child’s plaything, as if she was a fragile doll. Something about her would have made him want to protect her, even if she were not relevant to the case.
It was like having a light switch controlling his feelings. On. Off. Duty. Anger. Duty. Betrayal. Duty. Hurt. The mixture was unsettling. No one had ever caused him this much distress.
But duty be damned, he was still a person with feelings. David clinched his jaw tight. He wanted to tell her what a fool she was. He wanted to scream at her. The blood on his trunk had to belong to someone he knew, a fellow officer, someone he worked side by side with everyday. Anger still rode him. No matter the reason. She could not run off without warning. Someone could have killed her with so much open exposure. She would have been dead, and the case would have gone back to being at a standstill. A pile of ashes was of no use to anyone.
Who cared about the case? He was not just taking work home with him. He was bringing a vampire into his house. Given what she had already done to him, it was no wonder he had misgivings. This beautiful creature practically screamed trouble was following not far behind. The question was going to be how much and whether she was worth it.
The city scene slipped past and was replaced by the dark countryside. Here, progress was slower to return. The night was not held back by the artificial street lights and illuminated high-rises. The inky black swallowed everything whole. Only his headlights showed him the way.
It was how he felt inside. The part of him that had wanted casual sexual gratification with a vampire slipped away and was swallowed by the experience. It was replaced by the darkness of knowing what else came with the fantasy. There was nothing casual about vampires. He was but a link in her food chain and a notch in her bedpost. He wanted to put her in the box labeled “Past Mistakes,” to file her away in his brain as a lesson learned, but she would not fit.
Those ideas would have required him to walk away. Without knowing why, he was certain that was something he was not going to be able to do. The pain of the past warred with his sense of duty. Both of these did battle with her gravity-like pull. The way she looked at him, her every move, and even her scent, called to him.
He had no idea what he was going to do about her. What was she? A witness? A mistake? An unexplainable force he could not escape? Dangerous. She was dangerous. He needed more road and drive time than he had to figure it out. They were home.
Chapter 5
David’s house was in a secluded, heavily wooded area outside Dawsonville. No neighbors could be seen from the small three-bedroom Craftsman bungalow. The driveway was almost half a mile long. Dense evergreens mixed with hardwoods covered the property. It was like being cocooned away from the rest of the world.
The interior had been restored with painstaking care. Period colors, furnishings, and reproduction fixtures decorated the whole house. It looked just the way Cassy remembered the original time. She was curious about how such a place survived the chaos of thirty years ago or where he came up with the means to do such a restoration since.
“I’ll have to go to the store. There is nothing for you to eat here,” he said as he threw his keys on the kitchen table. She took in every detail. “This was my grandparents’ house. The basement was converted into a more modern living area with blacked-out windows when it came to me. There is a pull-out sofa-bed and a mini-fridge. I have cable and a pool table down there. You should be okay for a while.”
“Aren’t you staying?”
“It will depend on what Cap says. If he thinks I should go back, then no. I can stay with a friend in the city. The door is this way. “
He guided her to the basement stairs. The light switch was an old-fashioned two push-buttoned affair. It gave a hard, loud click as he pressed the top button. The bottom button popped out as the top sank into the plate. The lights burst into life. The dark cave became a bright playground.
Standing at the foot of the stairs, Cassy could see a flat screen hanging over a gas fireplace mantle. Shelves of DVDs lined the bookcase beside it. A black leather sofa took up most of one wall. A dark stained oak coffee table sat in front complete with remote and a stack of magazines. Floor lamps stood at either end of the couch. A pool table took up the other side of the basement. Another hard click on the panel at the foot of the stairs brought an array of neon colors online. Old beer signs from before The Fall hung on the walls behind it. They gave the green table felt an odd tint.
“Welcome to my home, Cassy Daniels. Make yourself comfortable while I make a few calls.” Without waiting for her to thank him, he ran up the stairs. The basement door slammed behind him. Cassy guessed they were not going to finish their earlier discussion.
The quick exit of her apartment had left her with no money, no ID, and no purse. Her hair had dried on its own in a tangled mess. Tugging her fingers through it let her know just how tangled it was. It would take at least two hours just to fix. Erica would have thrown a tantrum if she could see it in this state.
Cassy imagined the look her face would have had and what she would have said. “This is no way for a lady to appear in public. Just look at your hair!” Much fussing with a brush and comb would have ensued. But, now, it never would again. Erica was gone. Cassy could feel her throat tighten and her eyes sting with tears. She looked around for tissues but found none. Hands over her face, she sat on the sofa trying not to cry.
The stair door opened. David came down in a slow, heavy-footed huff. “Cap says I need to stay with you here. Guess I’m on guard duty. You can give me your statement when I get back later or tomorrow. The cops outside your place were killed. The blood and dent on my trunk was Officer Trent’s head being thrown at us from above.” He folded his arms in front of his chest and looked away.
“I am sorry about your friends,” she said, “It is hard to lose people you’ve known for a long time.” Her voice became softer, quieter as she spoke. Tears threatened to flow.
He nodded and looked at her. His pained expression softened into sympathy. “I guess you do know. I’m sorry about Erica. Can I get you anything?”
“I could use a comb and something to hold my hair. A rubber band, maybe?”
“A comb I can do. I need to go into town. No one knows where you are except Cap and me. We plan on keeping it that way for a while. Do you have a preference on food?” He did his best to be polite. She could see the hurt bubbling just below the surface.
“I had some fresh blood last night and a little this morning. Blood-based products will be fine for the next few days.” He pulled a comb from his back pocket, gave it to her, turned, and began walking away. “David?” He stopped on the stairs but didn’t turn around. “Thank you. For helping me, I mean.” He didn’t acknowledge her and left.
Once she was sure he was gone, Cassy crept up the stairs. None of them creaked. The cordless phone was located in the kitchen, hidden by the old-fashioned refrigerator. She called to let her assistant know she would be out of town for an unspecified period of time. As she hung up, Erica’s note came to mind. She pulled it out and read it over and over again. The words had not changed. “Call your father.” Cassy picked up the handset but could not bring herself to dial the numbers. She let it slide back into place on the charger with a little click.
Exploring the rest of the house occupied her for only a few minutes m
ore. It was not large. Two bedrooms and the bath were downstairs with the kitchen and living room. Upstairs was one large bedroom. This was David’s room. The other two bedrooms were very period. This one was more modern and messy with a distinctive lived-in look. Not wanting to pry in such a personal space, Cassy returned to the basement to wait for him to come back. She examined the windows. They were painted shut, but she was sure she could wrench them open, if she had to escape.
A quick flip through the channels found an old black-and-white film from the 1940s. Cassy remembered seeing it in the theater when it was new. Nostalgia took her in a moment, helping her forget her problems. She sat back and began picking knots out of her long, chocolate hair.
It was near sunrise before David came back. Bags from several different stores in New Atlanta lay on the floor. He handed her a packet of ponytail holders and removed the beer in the mini fridge while she braided her carefully picked-out hair. She pulled out each item and looked at it. There were the usual blood sausages and canned black soups. Two bright red donation bags from Vein filled another. Cans of blood soda and a bottle of bloodred wine rolled out of the third. There was enough for several days, more if she rationed.
He had been back to her apartment. Her purse, makeup bag, and overnight bag were on the table. She looked through the purse to find her cell phone and planner. Nothing appeared to be missing. The makeup bag also seemed complete. Under her compact was the thumb drive Erica had shown her. Cassy closed the bag as casually as she could.
Scion's Freedom (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 4