Stephen emerged from the back of the building carrying a heavy beer keg in each hand as easily as she’d carry a six-pack of soda. The kegs thumped against the wooden floor when he set them down, and conversation returned although at a much lower volume. He saw her and waved her over. “Tasha, I’m so glad you’re here. I heard about Alex and the shooting. I tried her cell phone, but she didn’t answer. No one at the hospital will give me any information. I’m going out of my mind here.”
“She’s fine. The bullet just grazed her arm.”
He sighed and slumped against the bar’s counter, head resting on his arms. He remained there for several seconds before straightening and running a hand through his thick curls. “That’s a relief. Thanks for stopping by to let me know.”
“You’re welcome, but actually, that’s not why I’m here.”
“I see.” He grinned, showing sharp white fangs that were larger than Alex’s. “I paid my speeding tickets. I swear.”
“I need some information.”
“About the shooting?”
“Not exactly. Think you could help me?”
Stephen shrugged. “I can try.”
She looked over her shoulder and then back to him. “Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”
One blond eyebrow arched, but he gestured for her to follow him. “Janet,” he addressed the human woman manning the bar. “I’ll be in my office for a while if you need me.”
The woman nodded as she filled a large glass with a mixture of blood, vodka, and hot sauce while an anxious-looking vampire watched.
Tasha quickened her step, eager to place some distance between herself and the vampires who continued to surreptitiously stare at her. She and Stephen entered a narrow hallway lined with doors. As they passed, she thought she heard moaning coming from behind a few.
Stephen seemed to notice a question on her face and answered before she voiced it. “Private donor rooms,” he explained. “It’s only when I hear screaming that I worry.”
She stopped in mid-stride, mouth agape.
He laughed. “Relax, I’m joking.” They’d reached the end of the hall, and he opened a door that was next to last on the right side. “See for yourself.”
Unable to suppress her curiosity, she peered around the doorjamb, and most of the tension left her body.
A male vampire who looked as though he could easily bench-press a small car sat in front of a wall of flickering black-and-white monitors.
“Josh,” Stephen said, leaning against the opened door and gesturing to the other vampire, “monitors all the private rooms as well as the common bar area and parking lot. Nothing happens in or around Crimson Swan without us knowing.”
Josh nodded to her as his fangs crunched through a Doritos tortilla chip. “Everything’s quiet, boss,” he slurred, spewing a few bright orange crumbs as he spoke. He waved another chip at the monitors. “Only three rooms in use, and they’re all behaving themselves. No signs of the HSM nuts, either.”
Stephen straightened. “Good.” He reached for the door and began closing it. “Let me know if you do see any.”
Tasha saw Josh salute them with one more chip before the door closed completely. “Having some kind of trouble?”
Stephen crossed the hall to the last door on the left and opened it. He flipped on the light and sighed. “Tubby Jordan and some of his people were here this morning. I was getting ready to call the cops to remove them when they suddenly packed up and left.”
Nathaniel “Tubby” Jordan was the founder and pastor for Holy Word Church, a nondenominational congregation with questionable affiliations—several of the church’s members were known associates of various vampire hate groups, including Blood Brothers and the Human Separatist Movement. He’d gained the “Tubby” nickname after acquiring a large belly as a result of too many Sundae Revival Ice Cream Socials at his church.
She’d known Tubby ever since he’d moved to Jefferson from out west a few years ago. While she didn’t agree with many of his beliefs, she respected him as a community leader who’d done a lot of good in the town in a short amount of time. Even so, his antics were nothing new to her, and it was out of a relationship born of mutual respect that she’d convinced Alex not to arrest Tubby and some of his followers when they chained themselves in protest to the bar’s framework while it was under construction.
Since that time, Tubby and his “flock” continued to regularly protest both the existence of Crimson Swan, which they called a “mockery of God’s house” because of its resemblance to a church, and vampires in general. Unless they became physically violent or otherwise damaged property, which they never had, the First Amendment protected their right to speak their minds. Even so, she knew the source of their anger, and a tiny part of her agreed with their mockery charge.
However, Tubby wasn’t the reason why she followed Stephen into his office.
Wood paneling and certificates of outstanding achievement in sales from the Vlad’s Tears Corporation covered the walls. She’d forgotten that Stephen was once the southwest Mississippi regional sales manager for VTC. Once she became accustomed to thinking of someone in a certain way, it always seemed like a minor shock to either be reminded of some element of their past or discover something new. Like Alex’s relationship with Varik Baudelaire.
“So,” Stephen began, as he sank into a leather executive’s chair behind a pristine desk, “what kind of information are you in the market for?”
Tasha eased into a chair opposite him, avoiding the overstuffed leather sofa. “I need to know whatever you can tell me about Varik Baudelaire.”
A change swept over Stephen. His smile disappeared, and his mood visibly darkened. “Why?”
“Because I don’t trust the son of a bitch.”
“You shouldn’t. Varik’s after one thing and one thing only—Alex.” He eyed her for a moment, rubbing the knuckles of his right hand. “Is Alex still pissed at me?”
“Why would she be pissed at you?”
“She didn’t tell you that I punched Varik?”
“Alex hasn’t been in a talkative mood today.”
“Doesn’t surprise me. Varik’s a bit of a touchy subject where she’s concerned.”
Tasha propped her elbow on the chair’s arm and cupped her chin with her palm. “Alex wasn’t real clear on their connection, aside from Varik being her mentor when she joined the Bureau.”
“It goes deeper than that, much deeper. They were engaged.”
“That would explain why Varik roughed up Harvey when he called Alex a bloodsucking whore.”
“Varik’s protective of Alex. All male vampires are protective of females. It’s ingrained in our genetic makeup to be protective.”
“A real alpha-male syndrome.”
“Yeah, you could say that.” Stephen swiveled his chair so she saw only his profile. The overhead lighting, although dim, bounced off the framed certificates along the wall and brought out the lighter platinum highlights in Stephen’s golden curls.
Tasha watched him, waiting, and thought it was easy to forget he was a vampire when he wasn’t staring at her. He was just another handsome guy until he smiled and showed his fangs. “Look, Stephen, I don’t know what is happening with Alex, but Varik seems intent on keeping me out of the loop.”
“He’s good at that sort of thing.”
“I’m just trying to understand what’s going on.”
“I really shouldn’t—”
“Varik looked like he was getting awfully chummy with her when they left Maggie’s Place together.” She hated to manipulate Stephen, but she needed to know what was going on between the two Enforcers. If either of them did anything to compromise the investigation, the FBPI would want answers from all those involved, including her, and she didn’t intend to find herself on the wrong end of a vampire inquisition.
Stephen gripped the arms of his chair tightly, and Tasha could hear the wooden frame groaning beneath the leather. When he finally swiveled back t
o face her, his eyes shone with a controlled anger. “What I’m about to tell you can never leave this bar. Do you understand?”
She nodded.
“If Alex finds out I told you, she’ll roast me alive. Not to mention the fact that I’m breaking a host of community taboos by talking about this with a human.”
“You have my word that I’ll never repeat anything you tell me.”
“You’ve seen the scar on Alex’s neck?”
How could she miss it? It was a jagged slash cutting diagonally across Alex’s skin, extending from just behind her left ear to the top of her collarbone. Tasha had estimated once that it was about six inches in length and nearly a quarter of an inch at its widest point. “Yeah.”
Stephen took a deep breath and said in a rush, “Varik attacked Alex.”
Tasha’s eyes widened. She’d expected to hear about a bad breakup, maybe a public no-holds-barred argument, but this scenario had never crossed her mind.
“Damn near killed her, actually. If I hadn’t shown up when I did, he probably would’ve succeeded.”
“Why would he—what caused—”
“He’d been injured that day during a raid on an illegal donor operation. He needed blood but was too stubborn to admit it.” Stephen picked up a pen from his desk and began toying with it. “Alex was at home. She’d taken the day off and was cooking when Varik came in. They were both in the kitchen, talking, and Alex accidentally cut herself.”
Tasha’s stomach felt as though it were performing cartwheels.
Stephen tossed the pen aside and rubbed his eyes as if trying to wipe away the memory. “The smell of fresh blood sent Varik over the edge. I think Alex would’ve let him drain her if I hadn’t shown up. She barely survived as it was.”
Tasha had seen what an out-of-control vampire was capable of doing. A shoot-out she’d been part of as a rookie had been the final result of a domestic violence dispute between two vampires. A husband killed his wife and then tore through town. She’d pulled his car over for running a red light. He’d pulled a gun and shot her three times. Luckily, two of the bullets were deflected by her body-armor vest, but the third had struck her leg. She’d shot him twice before her leg gave out and she fell to the ground. Drawn by her blood, he’d been moving in to bite her when her backup arrived.
Fear coiled around her spine and made her shiver. She swallowed, forcing the memories to retreat and willing herself not to vomit. “So, that’s why Alex left Louisville?”
“I’d already moved here to take the job as regional sales manager with VTC. I’d gone home for a visit but stuck around after the attack so I could keep an eye on her and make certain Varik stayed away from her while she was in the hospital. Once she was finally out, Alex packed up and we left town together.”
Tasha felt cold, numb. “She never told me any of this.”
“Like I said, Alex doesn’t like to talk about it.”
“But if Varik needed blood, why didn’t he just find a donor?”
Stephen shrugged. “I’ve asked myself the same question. All I know is that Alex is the only reason I didn’t kill that son of a bitch then. And she’s the only reason I didn’t kill him when he showed up today.”
“You think Alex still has feelings for him?”
“I’m sure of it, and not because of the blood-bond, either.”
“The what?”
“Because Varik took so much of Alex’s blood, there’s a psychic connection between them. It’s hard to explain.”
“You mean Varik can read Alex’s mind?”
“That’s part of it, yeah. Right after the attack, he was able to track her, sense where she was, that sort of thing. She could do the same to him. She had to learn to put up mental barriers to keep him out of her head.”
“Can they still do that?”
“Probably,” he said with a shrug.
“But it’s been six years!”
“Doesn’t matter. Once two vampires share blood, a permanent bond is forged. They feel what the other feels. If one has blood-hunger, so will the other. Every emotion is amplified, and unless they learn to control it, they could lose themselves in the bond. And if they continue feeding off one another, the connection grows stronger, to the point that if one dies then the other could die as well.”
“Shit,” she whispered.
“Now that Varik’s in town, my concern is that he’s going to try to find a way to strengthen the bond again.”
“How would he do that?”
“Either bite her or find a way to have her drink his blood. Time and distance weaken the bond, but it never goes away.”
Tasha’s brain worked to comprehend what Stephen was telling her. She’d suspected a bigger connection between the two Enforcers, but this was beyond anything she could’ve imagined.
A knock on the door made her jump in her chair and Stephen smile. “Come in,” he called.
The woman from the bar, Janet, poked her head around the door. “Sorry to interrupt, but I need more vodka out front for the Bloody Marys.”
Tasha took the interruption as a sign that it was time for her to leave. She stood and nodded to Stephen. “I’ve got to get back to the station. Thanks for the information.”
“Anytime,” he replied, as he rose from his chair.
She passed the bartender with a polite nod.
“Tasha?” Stephen called.
She stopped with one foot in the hallway and waited for him to continue.
“Be careful around Varik.” Stephen’s eyes were slowly bleeding over to amber. “If he sees an opportunity to get Alex back, he’ll take it and won’t care who gets in the way.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Tell Alex to call me.”
“Will do,” she said over her shoulder and hurried down the hallway, leaving Stephen and Janet alone in the office.
She hurried through the less crowded bar and outside into the cool new darkness. Once she was in the car and moving, she cranked the heater up and turned onto Jefferson Boulevard, trying to chase away the cold that had crept into her bones.
seven
ALEX DRIFTED ALONG INVISIBLE CURRENTS WITHIN THE darkness. The sensation of being carried aloft by thousands of hands gnawed at her. She fought against the unseen hands, tried to work against the forward movement, to no avail. Time slowed as she dipped and spun through the void.
“Alexandra,” a voice called to her from the surrounding gloom.
“Who are you?” she asked the voice, twisting within the void to search for its source.
A light in the distance sliced through the unending blackness.
“Alexandra.”
The voice floated to her along the currents flowing from the light. The stream through which she drifted seemed to swell into a rising wave, rushing her toward the growing brightness. She tumbled and fell, rolling into the light, and found herself in a wide-open field. Trees dotted the landscape, and sunlight glinted off the surface of a nearby pond. Gentle wind ruffled her hair, and she smoothed it away from her face. She turned in a slow circle, searching for a clue to tell her where she’d landed.
In the distance, beyond the pond, a form moved. She watched for a time while it shambled forward, stopped, seemed to quiver and disappear only to reappear a moment later in a different location, but always advancing steadily toward the pond and her.
Seeing no other signs of life, she walked in the direction of the pond. The voice that had called her name in the nothingness through which she’d fallen was now silent. She frowned. In fact, the world was too silent. Although she felt a breeze brushing against her, she heard no rustling of leaves from the scattered trees. Her footfalls were devoid of sound.
She stopped. Whoever or whatever she’d seen earlier had disappeared completely. Where could it have gone?
Uneasiness roiled her stomach and prickled her skin. A blast of frigid air sluiced up her back. She spun and instantly recoiled, feet backpedaling from the headless corpse standing bef
ore her.
Its swollen and discolored hands reached for her. Sound returned to the world as a wheezing voice issued from the bloodied neck stump. “Alexandra …”
Alex turned and fled. She ran toward the pond, glancing over her shoulder at the motionless corpse.
A low rumble sounded from below the ground, and the earth pitched to one side.
She tumbled, rolled, and regained her footing.
The ground trembled and undulated beneath her.
Stone monoliths sprung from the dirt, blocking her path.
She changed direction and more stones appeared, cutting off her escape, hemming her in.
The sky darkened with storm clouds. Windblown debris pelted her, but she continued to run, following the monoliths as they sprang up around her, shifting her path whenever one appeared to block her.
She’d lost sight of the headless corpse long ago. Her sides began to ache from the strain of running. The earth continued to rumble. She heard the groaning of more stones breaking to the surface and sliding against one another in the distance.
Part of her mind realized she was running blindly through a maze and if she didn’t slow down, she could easily miss a turn that would lead her out of it. However, her rational mind had given up control to the primitive part of her brain that was ruled by fear.
Her heart slammed inside her chest. Her breath came in short, ragged gulps. Her pulse beat in her ears and temples. Her legs became lead pistons that churned mechanically. On and on she ran through a seemingly endless labyrinth. She turned a corner and skidded to a halt.
The path before her was blocked, a dead end. The corpse she’d been trying to escape stood with its back to a wall of monoliths, its arms outstretched as if awaiting an embrace.
Breathing heavily, Alex backed away. A now familiar rumble grew louder. She fought to keep her balance while the earth pitched and moved like a living creature. A monolith rose beneath her feet, and she was forced to dive out of its way.
Blood Law Page 10